The Coast Guard will fly coronavirus test kits to the Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess ship currently quarantined off the coast of San Francisco to find out if 21 passengers and crew exhibiting symptoms have contracted the coronavirus.
“That ship is currently being delayed to provide ample opportunity for the CDC in partnership with the Coast Guard and with state health officials to conduct tests, because we have a number of passengers and crew members that have developed symptoms on this cruise,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
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During the cruise ship’s return from Hawaii to California, 11 passengers and 10 crew members began exhibiting symptoms, potentially endangering the other 2,500 passengers and 1,150 crew members. The ship will remain under quarantine until the Coast Guard arrives to test the 21 suspected cases.
Officials believe an elderly passenger who was on the ship’s previous trip to and from Mexico was carrying the virus. Shortly after he disembarked in mid-February, he died, becoming the state’s first known death due to the coronavirus.
“We also will expand testing to more passengers as there are a number of passengers that held over from the Mexico trip and made their way on to the second cruise into Hawaii,” Newsom said.
The Grand Princess said, however, fewer than 100 people onboard will be tested — mostly those who were on the ship for both the Mexico and Hawaii trips.
Newsom also said the state was declaring a state of emergency to martial an aggressive response to the coronavirus outbreak, which shot up to 54 cases in California on Wednesday, the highest number in the country.
