A 71-year-old cruise passenger has died from Coronavirus almost 2 weeks after he returned home, marking the first death from the illness in California and the 11th death across the USA. The Grand Princess cruise ship is currently headed back to California from the next scheduled voyage with ~2500 passengers, including 62 B2Bs (back-to-back cruisers) who were also on the previous voyage along with the elderly man who died.
According to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, at least 10 crew and 11 passengers on the Princess Cruises ship Grand Princess have developed the symptoms. The liner was headed back to California Thursday morning, March 5, so federal health officials can screen the travellers onboard.
The unidentified man had underlying health conditions. He was likely exposed to Coronavirus on the roundtrip from San Francisco to Mexico (February 11-21). His death was announced on Wednesday.
After Grand Princess finished her trip to Mexico last month, she went on another voyage to Hawaii. Federal health officials are requiring anyone from the previous sailing to remain in their staterooms until they have been cleared.
The liner cancelled her call to Ensenada which was scheduled for Thursday, March 5, and headed back to San Francisco CA. It is not clear exactly when the vessel will arrive.
For other Grand Princess accidents and incidents see at the ship's CruiseMinus page.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.