21 People Aboard Cruise Ship Off California Coast Test Positive For Coronavirus
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS13) — Vice President Mike Pence announced in a press conference Friday afternoon that 21 people aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship just off the California coast tested positive for coronavirus.
Of those people who tested positive for the virus, 19 are crew members.
On Thursday, a military helicopter crew lowered test kits onto the cruise ship by rope and later retrieved them to analyze the results. Of the more than 3,500 people on board the ship, 45 were screened in the first round of testing. Pence announced that the cruise ship will not be docking in San Francisco.
"We have developed a plan to bring the ship to a non-commercial port," Pence said in the press conference. "All passengers and crew will be tested for the virus. Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it."
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A 72-year-old Rocklin resident who was a passenger on a previous Grand Princess voyage that left from San Francisco to Mexico in February was confirmed as California's first COVID-19 fatality. That same cruise is associated with a coronavirus case in Sonoma County.
Prior to the vice president's press conference, state health officials announced that there are a total of 69 confirmed coronavirus cases in California.