What we know as Grand Princess docks, with passengers facing coronavirus quarantine
A satellite image shows the Grand Princess arriving at the Port of Oakland Monday with support services nearby.
(Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies / Lorena Elebee)
When is the cruise ship expected to dock?
The Grand Princess cruise ship arrived in Oakland around noon. Passengers expected to start departing the vessel at around 3 p.m. Emergency personnel spent the early afternoon setting up tents just off the dock where passengers will be screened prior to boarding buses.
Earlier, at 10:30 a.m., one passenger reported they were close enough to see the Bay Bridge.
Earlier, at 10:30 a.m., one passenger reported they were close enough to see the Bay Bridge.
It’s “a good day to pack,” the captain announced over the ship’s intercom at 10 a.m., according to passengers.
Those with immediate medical needs, which could extend beyond cases of those suspected of having coronavirus, are disembarking first.
Will any passengers be able to interact with the public?
No, according to authorities. “None of the passengers who disembark will be released into the general public,” according to a statement Monday by the California Office of Emergency Services. All passengers will face at least a 14-day quarantine, in various locations.
How many people are affected?
There are more than 3,500 passengers and crew on the ship, from 54 countries. At least 21 have tested positive for COVID-19, including two passengers and 19 of the 1,100 crew members. Last week, a Placer County passenger on a previous Grand Princess trip became the first known California resident to die of the new coronavirus.
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How many coronavirus cases are associated with the Grand Princess?
Aside from those on the ship, 12 positive cases of COVID-19 have been identified in passengers on the previous cruise, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday. That cruise went from San Francisco to Mexico, and included the Placer County man who later died of the disease.
How did the ship prepare for the docking?
Emergency medical personnel, known as “hasty teams,” worked all night conducting medical screenings, waking passengers in the middle of the night as they went. They were covered head to toe in protective gear. It is not yet clear how the ship plans to separate passengers with potential symptoms from those free of symptoms, and those already confirmed to have the virus. To dock the boat, a pilot familiar with the port was brought on board.
How are the port and Oakland preparing?
On land, work crews installed fences at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, which sits southeast of the Bay Bridge. Authorities have readied flights and buses to whisk the passengers from the ship to military bases or their home countries for their 14-day quarantines.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she was satisfied with the safety measures being taken by state and federal officials for port workers, local emergency crews and the surrounding community.
“We are very glad to play a role, which is the right thing to do to welcome these passengers into safety and to release them from what had to have been a terrifying experience of being trapped on this ship,” Schaaf said on Monday afternoon after an event on homelessness in Sacramento.
Some Oakland residents agreed Monday. Carol Stone, 68, a retired foundation manager, was glad the city opened its port to the ship. “They need to get off the ship and get some medical attention,” she said.
What are foreign countries doing in preparation?
Canada has dispatched a plan to pick up Canadian passengers of a cruise ship that has confirmed COVID-19 cases on board. Six Canadians who were on the Grand Princess from Feb. 11 to 21 were confirmed Monday to have the virus. Overall, 237 Canadian passengers are on board the ship, according to Global Affairs Canada. International passengers not needing medical attention are expected to disembark after California passengers leave the boat, which could take much of Monday.
What will happen to U.S. passengers after the ship docks?
The first focus will be on passengers with immediate medical needs, Newsom said Sunday.
Once they have disembarked, federal staff will begin disembarking the 962 California residents aboard. “It is expected that these actions will take the great part of the day,” the OES said in its statement. Those California residents will be taken to Travis Air Force Base in nearby Solano County.
That is the same base where authorities recently held passengers from the Diamond Princess after that ship had an outbreak of the virus, and where there has been suspected community spread of COVID-19.
The remainder of American passengers will be sent to military bases in Texas and Georgia, while foreign passengers will be sent to their home countries via charter flights from Oakland International Airport. Newsom stressed those cruise passengers traveling by air would have no contact with regular travelers.
What will happen to crew on the ship?
According to the OES statement on Monday, the crew will be quarantined aboard the ship. If crew members are in need of more acute medical care, “they will be transferred to an appropriate medical facility in California,” the statement said, adding that the cruise ship will stay in the Port of Oakland for the duration of disembarking passengers.
How long will the boat be in Oakland?
The vessel will depart Oakland “as soon as possible,” say state authorities, and will remain elsewhere for the duration of the crew’s quarantine. It is not known what will happen to the ship or crew after that.
How are passengers on board handling the coming days and weeks?
“This is all going to be a very new experience, going to a military base in Oakland, getting on what I assume is not going to be a commercial airline or ... going someplace I’ve never been,” said Debbie Loftus, a passenger from Wisconsin, on the ship with elderly parents.
She said she wasn’t sure “what the accommodations are going to be like and how long we’re going to be held there. Yes, it’s a little bit anxiety-producing but we’ll handle it minute by minute.”
Will passengers have to pay for this cruise?
No. Earlier, Princess Cruises announced it would offer a full refund to everyone on board and a credit for a future cruise.
Staff writers Erin B. Logan, Rong-Gong Lin II , Maura Dolan and Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers contributed to this report.
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