Grand Princess – with 121 British guests and 1,111 crew onboard – was due to dock in San Francisco last week but was held at sea after a former guest died from Covid-19.
California’s governor Gavin Newsom has confirmed that passengers will start to disembark at the Port of Oakland today (9 March), but crew members will stay onboard.
The US Coast Guard’s California Health and Human Services teams will be on hand to help with medical triage, screening and interviews, taking anyone who needs acute care to hospital.
“All of us at Princess Cruises offer our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the federal, state and local authorities who are coordinating, collaborating and activating resources and personnel in support of this response to provide care and attend to the health and wellbeing of our guests and crew,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.
She said Princess has learned from the quarantine of Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan in February, and has delivered 405 prescriptions to the ship and started a “fresh air and sunlight” programme on rotation.
One guest was hospitalised this morning for reasons unrelated to Covid-19.
Two suspected coronavirus cases onboard a separate Princess ship, Regal Princess, have tested negative and the vessel has now docked at Port Everglades.
