Coronavirus Update: Grand Princess Departure From Oakland Delayed; Frustrated Passengers Still On Board
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The final passengers were supposed to walk down the gangplank of the coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess to end their week-long ordeal Thursday, but some passengers still in the dark about when they are leaving the ship.
Meanwhile, the ship will remain docked in Oakland at least until Sunday. Initially, officials said once the final passengers left the massive cruise liner, it would depart with its 1,100 crew members -- including at least 19 diagnosed with the coronavirus -- to an unknown destination.
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Since she agreed to allow the ship to dock at the Port of Oakland, Mayor Libby Schaaf has been adamant that the Grand Princess leave immediately after the last passenger departs. But late Thursday, Schaaf sent an mail saying the ship would not be leaving until Sunday.
"The duration has changed but the mission is the same – to ensure the safety of Oakland residents and reunite stranded loved ones with their families," Schaaf said in a press release. "I support extending the stay of the Grand Princess because the operation has proven to be safe, meticulous, and at no risk to our residents."
"We will support the effort to repatriate as many crew members as possible – they are mostly low-income, low-wage, foreign nationals, and true to our Oakland values we will extend the same courtesy and care to crew as passengers."
One passenger aboard the ship, Darla Curtis, estimated there were between 100 and 200 people still aboard the ship Thursday afternoon, and said the remaining passengers are becoming increasingly frustrated. "Yesterday they said it was likely we get off the ship, today they said it was likely we get off the ship," said Curtis, who has been quarantined with her companion in the same room for a week.
Curtis said they have not spoken with anyone from the CDC, nor has anyone asked about their health, taken their temperature, or given them a test.
Calls to Guest Services have gone from being helpful to causing even more frustration. Curtis said she has been hung up on and threatened with arrest if they were to leave their guest rooms.
Meanwhile, Curtis said she has seen crewmembers posting pictures of themselves on social media without their protective masks.
"I've seen the crew on Facebook taking pictures of themselves without their masks off," said Curtis. "If they're roaming around with their masks on and then they're taking pictures on Facebook with their masks off, but we can't leave our rooms?"
Gov. Gavin Newsom said 1,963 people have been taken off the boat as of Wednesday night, with 511 passengers removed Wednesday. An additional 476, mostly foreign passengers were set to be removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, the cruise line announced it was halting new voyages and quickly ended ones currently underway around the world.
"Princess Cruises is a global vacation company that serves more than 50,000 guests daily from 70 countries as part of our diverse business, and it is widely known that we have been managing the implications of COVID-19 on two continents," said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises in a statement.
For the passengers in the midst of a cruise, if their voyage was scheduled to end in the next five days, their ship will continue to sail as expected through the end of the itinerary. Current voyages that are underway and extend beyond March 17 will be ended at the most convenient location for guests, factoring in operational requirements.
The cruise line has had three highly publicized outbreaks of the coronavirus aboard its ships in the last two months.
An outbreak in February on the Diamond Princess during an Asian voyage ended with the ship being quarantined at a dock in Japan after passengers came down with flu-like symptoms. While it was there, the coronavirus spread quickly, infecting more than 700 and killing four.
American passengers aboard the Diamond Princess were flown back to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield and then distributed to other secure military bases around the county to serve a federally mandated 14-day quarantine.
More than two dozen of those passengers were treated for the coronavirus once they arrived in the United States.
Meanwhile, the Grand Princess has been a central player to two other outbreaks. A roundtrip cruise from Feb. 11-21 from San Francisco to the Mexican Rivera has left nearly two dozen former passengers with confirmed coronavirus cases and also among those who have come in contact with them. It also led to one death.
A passenger on that voyage -- a 71-year-old Rocklin man -- became the first Californian to die of the illness. And new cases traceable to the voyage continue to mount.
On Tuesday, Marin County health officials announced two new cases that can be directly linked to the voyage. Both individuals were living with the person who was the county's first confirmed case -- a person who was on the Grand Princess Feb. 11 Mexican Rivera cruise.
The two people, who are the second and third cases in the county, had been isolated in their home. They have mild symptoms and do not need to go to a hospital, county officials said.
"Unfortunately, this doesn't come as a surprise," Dr. Matt Willis, the county's public health officer said in a statement. "These individuals were at high risk based on very close contact."
Two more members of the same household have been tested for the virus and county officials were waiting to get the results.
The second voyage was a 15-day round-trip from San Francisco to Hawaii. That is the cruise that will come to an end Thursday when the last of the more than 2,000 passenger depart.
While two passengers were diagnosed with the virus on the ship as it was held off the Northern California coast, awaiting clearance to dock in Oakland. Once the Grand Princess docked in Oakland, each passenger has been screened for the disease. More than 20 have been found to be infected including a passenger flown home to Canada.
