Senators Call for CDC to Keep Cruise Ship Industry Shut Down

While the cruise ship industry is struggling to stay afloat and the state of Florida is suing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to force it to allow cruise operators to sail again, two Democratic U.S. senators are calling for the agency to keep the industry locked down. Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal and California's Doris Matsui wrote to the CDC's director urging her to reject calls to open the cruise industry for business, saying a "premature resumption of cruise ship operations ... could threaten public safety and increase the spread of the coronavirus." Cruise operators Carnival (NYSE: CCL)(NYSE: CUK), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH), and Royal Caribbean (NYSE: CCL) have been waiting for the CDC to amend its conditional sail order (CSO), which essentially prevented them from accepting passengers.