Today’s entry: You all realize that the Vice President of the USA AND the Director of the CDC Robert Redfield both said on the day that cruise departed that "people should go about their lives" & "people should continue to cruise" so it was THEIR "personal responsibility" that is in question!
Bottom Line: This note is on back of my desire to prevent the Holland America cruise ships with sick passengers from docking at Port Everglades. Among the reasons I’ve discussed for handling the passengers offshore, rather than importing them into medical centers in Broward has been personal responsibility. As I’ve mentioned, every passenger was aware of the threat of the coronavirus prior to boarding the ships and Holland America was fully aware of the risk as well. They all made the choice to continue with the cruise. I view this as similar to people who don’t heed evacuation orders during a hurricane and end up in dire circumstances. What we have in this note, and others like it is an effort to politicize these cruises in a very misleading way.
The earliest of the two Holland America cruise ships to disembark was the Zaandam on March 7th. That happened to be the Saturday VP Mike Pence came to South Florida to meet with state and local officials with the cruise industry. Contrary to the context of the comments in the note, here’s a quote from VP Mike Pence: If you have a family member or are yourself, a senior citizen with a serious underlying health condition, this would be a good time to practice common sense and to avoid activities, including traveling on a cruise line, that might unnecessarily expose one to the coronavirus. There’s a lot of distance between that quote on March 7th and your assertion.
Second, it disembarked from Argentina and was scheduled to return to Chile on March 21st. It was never supposed to come here. It’s quite the stretch to imply comments made by VP Pence in Fort Lauderdale on March 7th, after the cruise ship had already disembarked in Chile, impacted the decision of anyone on that ship. But that’s not the only point to be made here. There’s a bigger one about personal accountability. We consistently have those looking to point fingers and play the blame game. It’s not helpful and one of our biggest issues and ongoing risks are those who ignore the guidance and often orders of authorities.
Taking unnecessary risks not only has the potential to put you and others at risk, but it’s also selfish. Just like the ignored evacuation order that places first responders unnecessarily in harm’s way, health professionals in South Florida already have their hands full without being made responsible for people who’ve chosen to take risks. Attempting to play politics or blaming others isn’t a solution or a valid explanation whether it’s a cruise ship, Mardi Gras parties or Spring Breakers. Personal accountability is the answer and part of the solution to this crisis.
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