Nearly half of the 46 people who were tested for Coronavirus onboard Grand Princess moored off San Francisco CA have returned a positive result, vice president Mike Pence said. The fate of the ship's more than 3,500 crew and passengers from more than 50 countries is unclear.
Pence said that 21 positive results had been recorded - 2 passengers and 19 crew members - and that “those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it.” Pence urged elderly American citizens to consider carefully taking future voyages during the crisis.
There is little detail as to where sick and quarantined passengers will be taken. Previously, military sites were used to quarantine holidaymakers from Diamond Princess, moored off Yokohama Japan. On Grand Princess, some passengers have complained about the handling of the situation, saying they had learned of the Coronavirus cases from media reports. There are also concerns for a passenger who has stage 4 cancer.
A total of 2,422 passengers and 1,111 crew members are currently on the ship.
The US government plans to take Grand Princess to a “non-commercial port” where all the crew and passengers would be tested. However, President Donald Trump announced on Friday he would prefer not to allow the passengers on American soil.
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.