President Trump said carnival ships could reduce pressure on hospitals. Experts say the ships are unsuitable, and ask who will benefit from it.
WASHINGTON – The idea flowed between friends.
At White House press conferences on Thursday and Friday, President Trump told reporters that Micky Arison, a former business partner and president of Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise operator, had made his ships available as a floating hospital during a corona pandemic. They are used to reduce the burden on healthcare for patients struggling with diseases that have nothing to do with the coronavirus.
– You can add residences. Let’s say places to stay if it works. I do not know. People may not want them, but he came up with an offer. It was a very generous offer, ”Trump said Thursday, adding that cruise ships would have“ a lot of space ”and could dock in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“We’re discussing what it might be most useful for,” he added Friday when asked about the idea. “If we needed something, they would be willing to do it. So far, we haven’t had to do it.”
The idea the White House refused to explain was Trump’s latest series of occasional improvisations as he has come under pressure from states waiting for flocks of new patients in hospitals. Because these ideas are a new but limited Google-related test site and experimental antiviral treatment he has praised over the past week, they are free help regardless of the official decision-making of the administration.
Carnival Corporation spokesman Roger Frizzell said ship chartering had been discussed for several days and escalated quickly after Arison spoke to the president on Thursday. Carnival, which earned nearly $ 19 billion only in 2018, would not benefit from the plan, Frizzell said, and would only charge for “significant costs” such as food and beverages. However, the sudden transfer of hospital patients is likely to mean that outside medical staff must be involved in the effort. If a city or hospital is needed to move the building, Frizzell said they should cover the cost.
The American city and foreign country have been dealing with the carnival for the past 24 hours, Frizzell said, refusing to recognize them. A possible public-private partnership with Carnival has also raised concerns about how Mr. Trump could benefit from past business in the public health crisis.
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The carnival has been at the center of a coronavir storm since the Princess Princess cruise ship, quarantined by the Princess Division, was quarantined on February 3 by a shipwreck in Yokohama, Japan. More than 700 people fell ill, and the company’s response has been criticized for its slowness and inadequacy.
Another princess ship, the Grand Princess, was quarantined in Oakland, California this month after passengers received the coronavirus. They have since been evacuated from the ship. Recently, the Costa Luminosa, part of the second carnival division, sailed for a week after a coronavirus was suspected without the introduction of protection protocols. Many passengers have now tested positive.
The president has spoken to Mr. Arison a few times in recent months as the cruise industry has declined in difficult times; They spoke specifically of another carnival ship, the Westerdam, which was rejected from several Asian ports in mid-February for fear of a coronavirus. The ship visited Cambodia. Sir. Trump spoke with Arison twice before docking, according to people familiar with the negotiations, and at least once before their discussions this week. One passenger had a positive coronavirus, but it was later said to be false.
Sir. Trump and Mr. Arison have been at work for over a decade, and their businesses sometimes overlap. It was a 2005 “Apprentice Legend Cruise” from New York to the Caribbean that featured Actors. And Carnival sponsored the reality series “The New Celebrity Apprentice,” which aired in 2017.
