By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com - The doctor is in.
Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) Group jumped 2.8% on Tuesday after the cruise operator named a chief medical officer. Shares are down about 62% in 2020, getting hit hard after trips were canceled as Covid-19 spread around the world.
Peers Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Holdings rose 5.3% and Carnival (NYSE:CUK) Corporation was up 3.3%.
Dr. Calvin Johnson will become the cruise line’s global head of public health and chief medical officer. He will lead the company’s global health and wellness policy, manage its public health and clinical practice, and determine the strategic plans and operations of its global healthcare organization. Johnson will also collaborate with the Healthy Sail Panel, an expert panel created earlier this month between Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, to ensure the company establishes and implements its protocols and recommendations.
Johnson previously led response efforts during active infectious disease outbreaks and was responsible for ensuring all aspects of patient care while overseeing a clinical operation with 1,300 caregivers and more than 300,000 individuals, the company said in a statement.
Johnson, most recently principal at Altre Strategic Solutions Group, is the former chief medical officer for Corizon Health, then the largest provider of correctional health care in the United States, and for Temple University Health System.
On Friday, Royal Caribbean’s German cruise line TUI Cruises started sailing once again. Royal Caribbean is a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI. The Mein Schiff 2 set sail with about 1,200 passengers onboard.