Nearly 1,000 passengers who are California residents aboard the Princess Cruise Ship will complete mandatory quarantine at Travis Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego.
The cruise ship that was hit by the new coronavirus is headed to the port of Oakland, California. Grand Princess Capt. John Smith, in a recording provided by passenger Laurie Miller of San Jose, told guests the ship will dock in Oakland. Princess Cruises says it's expected to arrive on Monday. The ship is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries.
“An agreement has been reached to bring our ship into the port of Oakland,” he told passengers Saturday night. “After docking, we will then begin a disembarkation process specified by federal authorities that will take several days."
Smith said passengers who need medical treatment or hospitalization will go to health care facilities in California, while state residents who don’t require acute medical care “will go to a federally operated isolation facility within California for testing and isolation.”
U.S. guests from other states will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states. Crew members will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the following statement Sunday afternoon:
"Passengers will be transferred to federal military installations for medical screening, COVID-19 testing, and a 14-day quarantine. Nearly 1,000 passengers who are California residents will complete the mandatory quarantine at Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Naval Air Station, and residents of other states will complete the mandatory quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia. Throughout the quarantine, passengers will be monitored for symptoms of COVID-19. The Department of State is working closely with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange for repatriation to their countries."
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The Grand Princess had been forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence that the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of nearly 20 cases that resulted in at least one death after a previous voyage.
MCAS Miramar sent NBC 7 the following statement:
"The Department of Defense is working closely with Health and Human Services to determine the potential installations and lodging requirements for quarantine operations for the passengers currently aboard the Grand Princess. As with previous efforts, the DoD would provide housing and HHS would be responsible for the aspects of the quarantine. Additional information will be provided as soon as it is available."
