21 people on board the Grand Princess which remains off the California coast have tested positive for COVID-19.
Grand Princess Hit with Coronavirus Outbreak
Princess Cruises has been hit with another coronavirus outbreak on one of its ships and this time it’s the Grand Princess which remains off the California coast. The results come after the first set of guests and crew were tested.
The tests were done onboard the vessel by the cruise line medical staff and those that tested positive are two guests and 19 crew members. This comes as the cluster of infections broke out in northern California related to the previous Grand Princess cruise. As a result, the cruise ship canceled its final port of call in Ensenada and headed back to San Francisco but authorities in the United States denied the ship to dock due to a possible outbreak onboard which is now the case.
The Coast Guard has been involved in getting test kits to the ship and then transferring them back via helicopter to a lab in Richmon for the results. The unique situation has not been smooth sailing and the infections were announced by Vice President Pence during a press conference even before those onboard were even notified they had tested positive.
The Government is planning on allowing the cruise ship to finally dock at a non-commercial port so everyone onboard can be tested and undergo quarantine on land. Authorities will likely want to avoid what happened with sister ship Diamond Princess which was under quarantine in Yokohama, Japan with no guests or crew able to disembark and a total of 696 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Also Read: Princess Cruises Introduces Temporary Cancellation Policy Due to Coronavirus
There are 2,422 guests onboard along with 1,111 crew members. the cruise line is offering free phone calls and wifi so they can keep in touch with family back home. Everyone is remaining in their cabins and the cruise ship is delivering meals directly.
As this is developing news there will be more updates and Cruise Hive will make new posts to make sure readers stay updated. At the moment there are over 101,400 people who have been infected by the deadly virus and in the United States, there are over 300 cases.
