Cruise ship with apparent coronavirus outbreak is held offshore near San Francisco

By Rafi Letzter
last updated

The Grand Princess is the second cruise ship where COVID-19 is thought to be spreading.

A file photo shows the Grand Princess, which now may be the site of a coronavirus outbreak.
A photo of the Grand Princess, which is being held off the California coast while passengers are tested for coronavirus. (Image credit: Robert Cross/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

A cruise ship with a suspected coronavirus (opens in new tab) outbreak is being held off the coast of California, where federal officials will screen people on board for the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. Two people who were on a previous cruise on the ship tested positive for the virus, and one has died.

The two passengers who tested positive took a cruise to Mexico on Feb. 11 and returned to San Francisco on Feb. 21, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. On Wednesday (March 4), one of those passengers became the state's first reported COVID-19 death, according to CNN. The man, a 71-year-old resident of Placer County, east of San Francisco, had underlying health conditions. 

After docking in San Francisco, the ship, known as the Grand Princess and operated by Princess Cruises, headed to Hawaii. Sixty-two people still on the ship overlapped with the passengers who tested positive, and 21 people (including 11 passengers and 10 crew) are now showing symptoms.

Coronavirus basics

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As a result, the Grand Princess cut its voyage short and is headed to San Francisco Bay, according to CNN. Everyone who was on the previous trip has been confined to their rooms. Officials will airlift 200 COVID-19 test kits to the ship, and everyone who is showing symptoms, or who overlapped with the sick passengers, will be tested, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Medical staff already aboard the ship will administer the tests, which will then be retrieved by helicopter and delivered to a facility in Richmond, California, for examination.

Related: Live updates on COVID-19

Another cruise ship from Princess Cruises, the Diamond Princess, became the site of a quarantine in a Tokyo port in early February when the virus began spreading aboard. The ship has since been evacuated, but not before hundreds of people became infected with the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. government has not yet delivered on its promise to develop and widely distribute tests for the illness, and in turn, many cases have likely gone undetected. COVID-19 is already spreading in the U.S., with at least 162 cases as of March 5. Fifty-four of those cases are in California. In most cases, the symptoms are mild, but a small fraction of people may have severe symptoms.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Rafi Letzter
Staff Writer
Rafi joined Live Science in 2017. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of journalism. You can find his past science reporting at Inverse, Business Insider and Popular Science, and his past photojournalism on the Flash90 wire service and in the pages of The Courier Post of southern New Jersey.
7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dan
    And all crew members tested positive? and only one crew tested inconclusive? Tell me how that's possible??? That's just strange??
    Reply
  • LisaSummit2
    Because this is a bioweapon and somehow it was given to only crew. The way this is sprouting out of nowhere here and there is proof it's more than a virus. This is a bioweapon. Someone has the vaccine but you and I aren't going to get it. When we go in to quarantine in USA get ready because Americans HAVE TO HAVE ACTION and be going, going all the time. People will FREAK OUT locked inside houses. It won't be pretty. May be a good time to have a plan in place before you cannot. The unmentioned item will probably be your best item. Someone will die of lead poisoning before I die of this virus.
    Reply
  • KING DAN
    I think someone caused the Corano Virus on purpose, Or at least spread it on PURPOSE. Because how come it is said that snakes caused it when the only other animals reported that has it is birds and a few dogs. The corona virus was spread on PURPOSE.
    Reply
  • dan
    Virus's do have purpose, is it a weapon? No. Their's no evidence of that, though misinformation portrays that theory to cause fear. Not understanding the spread isn't reason to believe that. What is important is to educate ourselves with truth. We are in this together, it's just time to fight this virus .
    Reply
  • LisaSummit2
    KING DAN said:
    I think someone caused the Corano Virus on purpose, Or at least spread it on PURPOSE. Because how come it is said that snakes caused it when the only other animals reported that has it is birds and a few dogs. The corona virus was spread on PURPOSE.
    Every dang 2 days they say it's from another animal. What?? WHY??? Let's work on a solution. Are we going to spend the next 5 years watching half of the world population die off as we pick a new animal of the week to blame???
    Reply
  • LisaSummit2
    dan said:
    Virus's do have purpose, is it a weapon? No. Their's no evidence of that, though misinformation portrays that theory to cause fear. Not understanding the spread isn't reason to believe that. What is important is to educate ourselves with truth. We are in this together, it's just time to fight this virus .
    Why do I see over and over that scientist have identified 2 components and cannot identify a 3rd component in the virus?
    Reply
  • LisaSummit2
    admin said:
    A cruise ship with a suspected COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is being kept in limbo near San Francisco Bay, where officials will screen people on board for the virus.

    Cruise ship with apparent coronavirus outbreak is held offshore near San Francisco : Read more
    BECAUSE we are Americans and TRY to not hold people against their will if they have done nothing wrong. I understand the quarantine. BUT i also believe if they tested people before ever boarding this wouldn't have happened so commonly on cruise liners. So, I find it very sad that once 1st person on cruise becomes ill with virus , we are keeping people adrift KNOWING the effect it has. The 1 patient infects most everyone aboard. This is an unethical solution. We need places IMMEDIATELY set up to get these people off these boats ASAP BEFORE they become another victim. And cruises should have ceased several months ago.
    Reply