If ports begin prohibiting cruise ships to dock every time they have sick passengers on board there won't be any ships allowed in ports any more. Not sure what's behind the hype and hysteria with the coronavirus, but I can't help but think that this presents a huge opportunity for drug makers and the media to truly blow this out of proportion and seize the opportunity to obtain funding for a vaccine. Not trying to be cynical at all, but for almost all of us the threats posed from influenza or contaminated romaine lettuce surely outweigh the risk of contacting the coronavirus.

Besides, AIDA is a cruise line out of Germany and I don't believe that country is the centerpiece for this virus. China is, with 4,500 cases reported there. So, why block a German cruise ship from making port in St. Lucia unless it was coming directly from China? And, of those 4,500 cases in China the present fatality rate from this virus is only 2.35%, with the majority of those cases involving people already suffering form different types of upper respiratory illnesses. For all of us the same protocols to protect us from the flu should be followed here: was your hands with soap and hit water frequently, cough or sneeze into your elbows, and try to reduce the number of times you touch your face (average person touches their face about 2,000 times every day!).