THE IMPACT ON TRAVEL CLAIMS AND LITIGATION IN THE UK 319 There is no reason why similar class actions should not be brought within the jurisdiction of England and Wales. If it can be shown that a cruise operator knew or ought to have known that its cruise liner might be infected with the virus, it ought to be a fairly straightforward matter to show that it ought to have taken the necessary steps to eliminate the contagion, before allowing any further cruises aboard that vessel to take place. UK holidaymakers have been bringing similar claims against cruise operators in relation to outbreaks of norovirus for some years, with mixed success; in order for any such claim to succeed it must be shown that the cruise operator knew or ought to have known that there was a risk of infection and that it failed to take adequate steps to eradicate this risk. Typically, on the first affected cruise, this would not be possible because the cruise operator could not have known that a contagious passenger would be likely to come aboard. However, if adequate steps were not taken to isolate passengers or to deep clean the vessel between cruises, liability could attach because any subsequent outbreak could be linked to the failure to limit other passengers’ exposure. There is no apparent reason why similar reasoning could not be brought to bear on COVID-19 cases, save that in the case of COVID-19 the virus is even more virulent and the danger posed by it has been even better publicised. 4. CONCLUSION The UK government has attempted to strike a balance between measures designed to halt the spread of the virus, on the one hand, and measures intended to stimulate the economy, on the other. Inevitably, there have been calls from political commentators either to tighten the lockdown, in emulation of countries such as Italy and Spain, or to loosen it, in imitation of Sweden and the USA. In the first week or so of the British lockdown, there was perhaps a generalised reluctance to take the virus seriously, notwithstanding the implications of the experience of other European nations at that time. The sight of British holidaymakers drunkenly taunting Spanish police on the Costa del Sol, whilst flouting lockdown measures, disgusted the nation, as no doubt it did their Spanish hosts. Whether or not the country’s outlook was affected by the Prime Minister testing positive for the virus and being admitted to an intensive care unit, where he is said to have had only 50/50 chances of survival, we cannot know. Nevertheless, it is certain that, after that time, British people began to take the situation more seriously.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==