St. Kitts Britannia, Allure and Oasis of the seas in port. Photo credit Spacejunkie2

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal has taken aim at the cruise industry this week, posting on Twitter that “cruise are repeating history” again as operators deal with coronavirus issues aboard.

“Our warnings have proved sadly prescient & continuously compelling. Time for CDC & cruise lines to protect consumers & again pause—docking their ships.,” the Senator said in a Twitter post. “Cruises are repeating recent history as Petri-dishes of COVID infection.”

The Twitter post comes after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its cruise ship colour status tracker.

Eighty-six ships were reported in “yellow status” on Tuesday, meaning reported cases of COVID-19 aboard have met the threshold for CDC investigation.