Cruise Ship Hit by Coronavirus Docks in Oakland

A cruise ship carrying at least 21 people infected with the coronavirus passed under the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday and docked in aOakland, after idling for days off the coast of San Francisco, as federal and state officials prepared to receive thousands of people aboard the vessel.

Fences were quickly installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the passengers aboard the ship to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. The roughly 3,500 passengers and crew on the ship hail from 54 countries.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf defended their decision to allow the Grand Princess cruise ship to dock in Oakland and sought to reassure constituents that none of its passengers would be exposed to the public before completing the mandatory quarantine.

The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to a major airport and military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they’ll be tested for coronavirus, known as COVID-19, and quarantined.

About 1,100 crew members, 19 of whom have tested positive for the new virus, will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.

“That ship will turn around — and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship — but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay,” he said.

Grand Princess passenger Karen Schwartz Dever said it feels “awesome!” to finally be in the San Francisco Bay.

“Everyone was hollering and clapping as we entered the harbor,” she said.

Personnel covered head-to-toe in protective gear woke passengers early Monday to check for any symptoms of COVID-19.

Michele Smith, 57, of Paradise, California, said a doctor knocked on her cabin before dawn and asked if she or her husband had a fever or cough. The couple, on their annual vacation, said they are in good health. Like the rest of the 2,400 passengers aboard, have been sequestered in their cabin since Thursday, and hope their time spent in quarantine on the ship will count toward the 14 days they are expected to isolate themselves. But they said officials have not yet provided an answer.

“We’re making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible,” said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

The number of infections in the United States climbed to 600 on Monday, with at least 22 deaths reported. The virus has infected more than 110,000 people worldwide, with Italy becoming the latest country to lock down a region in an attempt to prevent its spread. A combination of coronavirus fears and plunging oil prices sent stocks on Wall Street plummeting Monday.

In Florida, which is heading into its busy spring break season, health officials asked all people returning from any foreign travel to self-isolate for 14 days.

Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the metropolitan area’s airports, tested positive and is isolated in his home. Director Rick Cotton had been at the facilities while travelers were returning from hot spots, Cuomo said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health’s infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region is “possible.” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle area amid an outbreak at a nursing home there that has killed 17.

The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation, including nearly 240 from Canada.

A woman gestures as other passengers look on from aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises, while it maintained a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, on Sunday. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images))

Meanwhile, another cruise ship, the Regal Princess, pulled into a Florida port late Sunday night after being held off the coast for hours while awaiting coronavirus test results for two crew members, who did not have symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan last month due to the virus. Ultimately, about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory.

Many public venues in the U.S. have been taking safety measures in an effort to limit the virus’ spread. Several universities have begun online-only courses and the Elk Grove Unified School District, the largest school district in Northern California, with 64,000 students, canceled classes this week after it was discovered that a family in the district was exposed to the disease.

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