The coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise ship is about to dock in Oakland. Crew members will stay onboard, while passengers are quarantined on military bases.

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The coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise ship is about to dock in Oakland. Crew members will stay onboard, while passengers are quarantined on military bases.
grand princess coronavirus cruise ship san francisco oakland

The Grand Princess cruise ship, where 21 passengers and crew have tested positive for the new coronavirus, is about to dock at the port of Oakland, California.

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The San Francisco-based ship has been sitting in limbo off the coast since Thursday, after three passengers from the ship's last voyage tested positive for the new coronavirus. One of those patients died in Placer County, the state confirmed, becoming California's first 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," 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 around noon on Monday.

There are currently 2,422 passengers and 1,111 crew members onboard, according to the cruise line, Princess Cruises. Only 46 people on the ship have been tested for the coronavirus.

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Grand Princess coronavirus cruise ship san francisco oakland

"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, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the people who require medical care will 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 that 962 California residents on board would be prioritized, going to Travis Air Force Base 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 added that crew members would remain quarantined on the ship, which would then leave the San Francisco Bay.

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