Many cruise line crew members stuck on ships since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic have been unable to return home due to quarantine. Now, the CDC implemented new guidelines for crew members aboard ships.

The CDC said the “guidance and the commercial transportation attestation are only applicable to cruise ship operators with a complete and accurate No Sail Order response plan for crew management and for their ships that have met CDC’s criteria for a Green Ship.” The system is designed to determine whether any remaining crew onboard the ships can return home.

The Red ship criteria means within the past 28 days there has been one or more cases of confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness, or a ship-to-ship transfer from a vessel with confirmed cases.

During the Red Phase, if land-based crew get on the ship they will be immediately quarantined for 14 days. The Yellow Phase is similar to Red, but the ill crew member will have to take a Polymerase Chain Reaction test — if the test is negative they will enter the Green Phase.

In order to be in the Green Phase, the ship must have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 or COVID-like illnesses for 28 days determined by a qualified medical professional. To maintain Green status, ships must submit a weekly EDC form to CDC. If it fails to submit the form, the ship status will change to red.