CDC investigating S.C. based cruise ship for potential COVID cases

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The CDC is investigating a Charleston-based cruise ship for potential COVID-19 cases on board. The cruise ship, the Carnival Sunshine, was supposed to once again set sail from the Port of Charleston in mid-January.

Carnival Sunshine has been given a “Yellow” ship status, which means the number of reported COVID cases has met the threshold for an investigation, according to the CDC’s website,

To meet that threshold, there have to be cases reported in .1% or more of passengers or if there was one or more cases reported among the crew.

For example, according to the CDC, if the ship has 6,500 passengers on board and seven or more cases are reported among passengers, that would trigger an investigation.

Carnival Cruise Line says in a statement that Carnival Sunshine started guest operations from Miami on Dec. 19 and will be moving to Charleston as planned on Jan. 13.

It is unclear exactly how many people are on board the ship or how many cases have been reported.

There are about 17 other Carnival ships, as well as multiple other cruise lines, with ships under the “Yellow” ship status.