At least 21 people on a cruise ship circling off the California coast have tested positive for the new coronavirus, while infections linked to the vessel’s prior voyage have emerged across the state, reports Bloomberg.
What happened?
Twenty-one people on board a cruise ship off the coast of California have tested positive for the coronavirus, Vice President Mike Pence announced on Friday evening, a significant escalation in the spread of the virus on the West Coast.
Of the 21 people who tested positive, 19 were crew members and two were passengers, the vice president said, announcing that the ship, with more than 3,500 people on board, would be brought to a noncommercial port this weekend.
“We will be testing everyone on the ship,” he said. “We will be quarantining as necessary.”
The Grand Princess — operated by Carnival Corp.’s Princess Cruises — has been stuck in limbo with more than 3,500 people onboard since California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that a 71-year-old man who had traveled on the ship in mid-February had died of the virus. State and federal authorities rushed testing kits to the ship via helicopter Thursday.
Meanwhile, reports say that the state has declared emergency.
Passengers To Be Quarantined?
Pence said the ship, which had initially planned to dock this week in San Francisco, would be allowed to dock at a non-commercial port this weekend. All of the passengers and crew will be tested, and quarantined if necessary.
“Cruise ships represent a unique challenge for health officials,” Pence said, adding that elderly Americans should carefully consider whether to take cruises.
Princess Cruises said in a statement Friday that the ship’s doctor is in the process of informing guests and crew of their individual results.
The company said it learned of the positive cases from Pence’s press conference and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention simultaneously speaking to the shipboard doctor.
How Did It Start?
According to a New York Times report, The panic over the fate of the ship, the Grand Princess, which was returning from Hawaii, began this week after a 71-year-old man died after traveling on a previous leg of the cruise, a round trip from San Francisco to Mexico last month. Another passenger from that leg of the trip also tested positive for the virus and is being treated in California.
Then, more cases with links to the ship emerged on Friday: In Placer County, northeast of San Francisco, officials announced three new cases — all passengers who had previously traveled on the Grand Princess on a trip to Mexico. Nearby in Contra Costa County, officials also announced three new coronavirus cases, including two who had been aboard the Grand Princess.
White House Takes Cognizance of Old People Prone To Virus
Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, said that many cruise ship travelers were in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, a group that may be more vulnerable to the virus.
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Shortly after Mr. Pence’s briefing, the ship captain came over the loudspeaker and apologized to passengers that they were getting updates from television news, rather than him. The captain said that he had not received any advance notice about the news briefing and that the ship would notify individuals of their test results “as soon as possible.”
“We are working to make you as comfortable as possible,” he said.
Patricia DiMartino, whose relatives are passengers on the ship, said her 82-year-old brother-in-law had a fever and a cough, but his test results came back negative. “Even if he doesn’t have coronavirus, he’s got something, and he isn’t seeing a doctor,” she said, adding, “This is a fiasco.” Her brother-in-law and sister said they were told to order a week’s worth of prescription medication.
Rising Cases
The news came as the number of coronavirus cases in California — one of the states hardest hit so far — rose to 69, including at least one death. Nearly 10,000 people who have recently returned to the U.S. through the Los Angeles and San Francisco airports are being monitored for the illness, according to the state.
Meanwhile, state officials on Friday linked at least five more coronavirus cases to the Grand Princess’s trip to Mexico from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21. California has now confirmed at least eight cases tied to that voyage, including the fatality.
Californians in Jeopardy
Off the coast, thousands of cruise ship passengers — many of them Californians — had been holed up in their cabins all day under isolation orders as they awaited news of whether the coronavirus may be festering on board. On Friday night, those travelers were learning they would be brought to an unidentified site for testing and possible quarantine.
“We are working literally hour by hour with the Department of Defense and the state of California to identify the military bases where we will do the testing of the remaining passengers,” Mr. Pence said.
Helping Guests With Medical Supplies
Princess said late Friday that it is helping guests to replenish needed prescription medicines and providing room service to all staterooms.
Princess Cruises Facing the Burnt?
The Grand Princess is owned by Princess Cruises, the same company that runs the Diamond Princess, the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship that was quarantined off the coast of Japan last month. The virus circulated among the more than 3,700 crew members and passengers who were waiting out a two-week isolation period in the port city of Yokohama, with more than 700 cases identified from that ship.
Carnival’s Princess division is again at the center of a coronavirus outbreak after more than 700 people from its Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive and were under quarantine for a time in Yokohama, Japan.
The episodes raised broader concerns about disease transmission on cruises and prompted several nations to turn away boats over ultimately unfounded suspicions of coronavirus on board.
Concerns Shifting to North-American Cruise Market
The Diamond Princess situation took place in Asia, a small, albeit growing, market for the cruise business. But now concern is shifting to the industry’s core North American markets, including the Caribbean and the Pacific, weighing on sales during the business’s peak booking season.
Coronavirus Impact in the U.S.
- So far, 14 deaths have been linked to the virus — all but one in the Seattle area — with more than 200 confirmed cases across the country. Reports of cases in New Jersey, Maryland and Tennessee brought the number of states with infected patients to 19.
- Cut off from their relatives inside the virus-stricken nursing center in Kirkland, Wash., families are frantically searching for help and basic information.
- A cruise ship with thousands of people on board was being held off the coast of California.
- Many health care workers say they lack protective gear and protocols to keep themselves and their patients safe.
- Six Americans who have tested positive spoke to The Times about their experiences.
Coronavirus is already being viewed through a partisan lens. - Public health officials say that injecting politics into the growing outbreak could make it harder to fight.
- An outbreak would test the American education system. Few schools have detailed plans to teach online if schools were closed for long periods.
- Most experts agree: To protect yourself wash your hands and avoid touching your face.
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Source: Bloomberg
