Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam is now recommending Canadians avoid taking cruises because COVID-19 can spread quickly on board ships.

Chris Mayne of Mayne Travel says this is a rapidly evolving situation but the statement on Monday is quite clear.

“It’s probably safer for people contemplating cruises on the next few months to defer their travel plans for the time being,” he says.

Mayne says this is a rapidly evolving situation.

“This is something that cruise lines have been dealing with for over a month now and the information, the penalties, the re-booking, the cancellation procedures are almost changing week by week,” Mayne says.

He says he remembers SARS and going through Toronto’s airport a decade ago and seeing it almost empty

“But I don’t think people stopped travelling in the numbers that they seem to be in this particular situation,” he says.

Meantime, British Columbia’s provincial health officer confirms a man in his 80s with pre-existing conditions died Sunday night after contracting the new coronavirus at a long-term care facility in North Vancouver.

That is believed to be the first death in Canada from the virus.

(With files from The Canadian Press)

(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)