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HEALTH-VIRUS-US-CRUISE SHIP
Virus-hit US cruise ship to dock in Oakland: operator
LOS ANGELES, March 8, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – A US cruise ship stranded by a
coronavirus outbreak off the coast of San Francisco will dock in Oakland, the
vessel’s owner said Saturday.
The Grand Princess cruise ship has recorded 21 COVID-19 infections on board
— 19 crew and two American passengers — out of 45 people tested.
“Grand Princess will proceed to the Port of Oakland on Sunday to begin
disembarking guests who require acute medical treatment and hospitalization,”
the Princess Cruises tour company said.
“Guests who are California residents will go to a federally operated
facility within California for testing and isolation, while non-Californians
will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states.”
The ship’s crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, the
company added.
“We will arrive sometime in the afternoon,” Carolyn Wright, an American
passenger on the ship told AFP, citing a message from the captain.
“It will take several days to disembark.
“I’m really happy there’s finally a plan, I just wish we knew more as to
what’s going to happen to us.”
California governor Gavin Newsom had given the vessel permission to dock,
the San Jose-based Mercury News reported earlier, citing comments by Oakland
councilman Larry Reid.
The US government was setting up a command center at the Marriott
Convention Center and deploying US Marshals to help with the operation, Reid
said, according to the newspaper.
Vice President Mike Pence, who is in charge of the US government’s response
to the COVID-19 outbreak, said earlier that all 3,533 passengers and crew
would be tested for the virus and quarantined if necessary.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1240 hrs