A San Francisco-based cruise ship in connection with the first coronavirus-related death in the U.S. state of California was ordered to delay its return to the city, as California Governor Galvin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the state.
The Grand Princess cruise ship, which had cancelled its Thursday stop in Ensenada, Mexico and was heading directly back for San Francisco, is now being held off the coast with an unknown date of arrival.
Chief medical officer of the ship Grant Tarling said Wednesday that officials of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating "a small cluster" of COVID-19 cases that involved passengers who were traveling aboard the ship between Mexico and San Francisco last month.
Two of its former passengers were diagnosed with COVID-19, with one of them from Placer County, northeast of San Francisco, pronounced dead earlier in the day, and they were found to be on the ship for a cruise to Mexico on Feb. 11-21.
The death brought the total COVID-19-related fatalities to 11 across the United States, along with more than 150 confirmed cases.
Newsom told a press conference on Wednesday that the Grand Princess will be held off the California coast and not allowed to dock at the Port of San Francisco before it was cleared by health officials.
"We have a number of passengers and crew members who have developed symptoms on this ship," said the California governor.
Officials said more than 20 passengers on board have developed flu-like symptoms and will be tested for COVID-19, along with 62 people who remained on board from the earlier Mexico trip.
"For those guests who sailed with us on our previous voyage and may have been exposed, in an abundance of caution, the CDC requires you to remain in your stateroom until you have been contacted and cleared by our medical staff," said the cruise company in a health advisory to the passengers.
The Grand Princess belongs to the same company that owned the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where more than 700 people tested positive for coronavirus during a mass outbreak on board and were trapped at a port in Japan for weeks in February.
