White House Blocks CDC Order To Keep Cruise Ships Docked Over COVID-19 - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2020) The White House has blocked an order from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to keep cruise ships docked as a precautionary step against the COVID-19, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The move seemed designed to appease politically-sensitive Florida and its tourism industry, the report said, citing a senior Federal health official.

The CDC has had a "no sail" policy for all cruise vessels after such ships became viral hot spots for COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic in March, and the ruling was to have been renewed Wednesday under a recommendation by its director Robert Redfield, the report added.

But at a meeting of the coronavirus task force on Tuesday, Redfield's plan was overruled, according to the report.

Tourism-focused Florida, home to Disneyland, is a crucial swing state for President Donald Trump in the upcoming November 3 election. Pollsters, including those in US media, have the president trailing his Democrat challenger Joe Biden in all almost key races for the election.

This is not the first time the White House has gone against the counsel of the CDC, with Trump regularly clashing with the agency on its advice that mask wearing was one of the best ways of preventing the spread of the COVID-19. Many Trump supporters refuse to don masks, aping the president who is hardly seen wearing one. Trump has also refused to make face coverings mandatory, arguing that it was the democratic right of Americans to decide if they wanted to wear one.