Should Divers with Head Colds be Quarantined?: Undercurrent 02/2026

Should Divers with Head Colds be Quarantined?

if you're the one, would you?

from the February, 2026 issue of Undercurrent

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People make you ill. You may not even know who. COVID, flu, or cold aerosol drops can last an hour or more inside a liveaboard. The virus left on a doorknob may live up to 24 hours after you open that door; you go to dinner and inadvertently touch your lips.

In August, we wrote that one of our correspondents traveled to the Philippines and made back-to-back trips to Tubbataha on the MY Infiniti. He reported, "I got a head cold the first night back on the boat for the second tour. All six in my group ended up getting it and having to medicate our way through it. Two people had to skip a day of diving, being unable to clear their ears."

"A diver can be contagious for about five to seven days."

We asked ourselves, should divers with obvious symptoms, such as a runny nose, sneezing, or congestion, isolate themselves on a liveaboard, eat meals alone, and keep away from the common areas? After all, a diver can be contagious for about five to seven days....

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