- The coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise ship on Monday docked at the port of Oakland, California, to unload passengers.
- The ship had been waiting off the coast since Thursday after a former passenger died of the novel coronavirus and 21 people on board later tested positive.
- Sick passengers will go to hospitals, while others are headed for US military bases for 14-day quarantines. Crew members will stay on the ship.
- For the latest case totals, death tolls, and travel information, see Business Insider’s live coronavirus updates here.
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The Grand Princess cruise ship, on which 21 passengers and crew have tested positive for the new coronavirus, docked at the port of Oakland, California, at about noon on Monday.
The San Francisco-based ship had been sitting in limbo off the coast since Thursday after three passengers from its most recent voyage tested positive for the new coronavirus. One of those patients died in Placer County, the state confirmed, becoming California’s first reported coronavirus death.
“I have received some very strong assurances that this operation will employ the best isolation practices known, that the operation will be conducted in a manner that minimizes the time for the Grand Princess to be at Oakland,” Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a press briefing on Sunday. “No one will be quarantined in Oakland or released to our community.”
Photos showed the ship passing under the Golden Gate Bridge as it approached the port of Oakland on Monday.
The ship docked with 2,422 passengers and 1,111 crew members on board, according to the cruise line, Princess Cruises. Only 46 people on board have been tested for the coronavirus.
"To avoid delays, testing will be conducted when guests arrive at their onward destination," Princess Cruises said in a statement on Sunday.
In a briefing, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the people requiring medical care would leave the ship first and go to hospitals "across the region." The process of unloading everybody else could take two to three days, he added.
Newsom said the 962 California residents on board would be prioritized, with some going to Travis Air Force Base and others to the Marine Corps Air Station for a 14-day quarantine. He added that California would provide charter flights for people who are not US residents, though he did not specify how many flights that would entail or where they would go.
Residents of other US states will go to the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia.
Newsom said crew members will remain quarantined on the ship, which is expected to leave the San Francisco Bay with them still on board.
Do you work for Princess Cruises? Are you on the Grand Princess? Contact this reporter at [email protected]. You can also reach out securely on Signal at 646-768-4730.
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