VP Pence says 21 on cruise ship being held off the California coast tested positive for COVID19

VP Pence and the point person for the US response has stated that 21 people on the cruise ship off the California coast has tested positive.

The ship in question has been steaming in circles outside of the Golden Gate for days as a prior passenger has died. Yesterday Pave Hawks of the 129th Rescue Squadron based at Moffett Field (KNUQ) along with a MC-130J Combat King II , dropped testing kits and returned samples. We have been keeping tabs on the 129th since its literally in our backyard but beyond yesterdays flight it seems its business as usual

Its unclear how things will proceed. I will have to check the draft of the ship but they could get fairly close to Travis AFB where other cruise ship passengers were quarantined

www.sacbee.com...

UPDATE: According to the VP the ship will NOT dock in SF but will be directed to a commercial dock to disembark people

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Passengers and crew members aboard the Grand Princess, which has been in a holding pattern in the Pacific Ocean off San Francisco for nearly two days, have tested positive for the coronavirus and will not be porting in San Francisco, Vice President Mike Pence announced Friday.

Pence said of the 45 tested, 19 crew members and two passengers tested positive for the coronavirus. Ship will now move to a “non-commercial port” where the passengers will be unloaded.

“We have developed a plan which will be implemented this weekend to bring the ship into a non-commercial port,” Pence said. “All passengers and crew will be tested for the coronavirus. Those that need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those that require additional medical attention will receive it…We are taking all measures necessary to see to the health of the Americans and those involved on the Grand Princess. And just as importantly to protect the health of the American public and prevent the spread of the disease.”sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com...

The ship can be tracked here:

www.marinetraffic.com...:370965/zoom:10

More Coverage
www.nbcnews.com...


Yesterdays mission

Good report. S&F

But, bad news.

19 crew? I've got a bad feeling about the full manifest. I hope they're strong enough to pull through the bug.

a reply to: Deplorable

They will be okay, just like the vast majority of passengers on the other cruise ships who were temporarily quarantined over the past couple months.

19 of them where crew members

Like the people who serve food and drinks I'm going to bet we will see another 400+ cases off this ship

Why would anyone get on a cruise ship right now I really cant fell bad for them anymore this is darwin doing his job

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: Deplorable

They will be okay, just like the vast majority of passengers on the other cruise ships who were temporarily quarantined over the past couple months.

My guess is that they will move the ship to Benicia to disembark. The ship is too tall to get past the benicia-martinez bridge and then overland to Travis AFB

Where has the ship been in the past month is what I'd like to know.

I'm not up to par with how long the virus incubates, stays alive in or on certain materials, but they didn't simply come down with it on the ocean. It infected the ship somewhere at a certain time within some recent amount of time.

The ship off California was returning to San Francisco after visiting Hawaii. Some of the passengers remained on board after sailing on its previous voyage, to the Mexican ports of Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

A Sacramento-area man who sailed on the ship in February later succumbed to the coronavirus. Two other passengers from that voyage have been hospitalized with the virus in Northern California, and two Canadians who recently sailed aboard the ship tested positive after returning home, officials said.

www.nbcnews.com...

It sounds like some of the passengers who remained on board from its previous voyage carried it? They they people on a previous voyage of the same ship got it and one died.

originally posted by: Deplorable
Good report. S&F

But, bad news.

19 crew? I've got a bad feeling about the full manifest. I hope they're strong enough to pull through the bug.

Yeah, that’s 19 crew and 2 passengers, or 21 people - out of 45 tested. Also known as “approximately 47% (half) of the people they tested came back positive”.

How many people are on this ship?

originally posted by: FredT

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: Deplorable

They will be okay, just like the vast majority of passengers on the other cruise ships who were temporarily quarantined over the past couple months.

My guess is that they will move the ship to Benicia to disembark. The ship is too tall to get past the benicia-martinez bridge and then overland to Travis AFB

Scratch that. I forgot about the Richmond San Rafael Bridge which is 25 feet too low. So Ill put my money of Alameda or Oakland

originally posted by: BiffWellington

originally posted by: Deplorable
Good report. S&F

But, bad news.

19 crew? I've got a bad feeling about the full manifest. I hope they're strong enough to pull through the bug.

Yeah, that’s 19 crew and 2 passengers, or 21 people - out of 45 tested. Also known as “approximately 47% (half) of the people they tested came back positive”.

How many people are on this ship?

3500 between passengers and crew

What difference does it make when the virus stays virulent even when the infected don't show any symptoms.

Eventually they will have to let everyone off the ship anyway.

Go to LAX and see how many planes are landing with people from all over the globe entering the country on tourist visas.

www.flylax.com...

21 people being helped by the 129th. Thats an odd syncronicity.

I know two people on this ship. Not real well, but they are regulars at the small Italian restaurant at which I am a server/bar tender. One of them posted earlier today on Facebook, "Stuck on the Grand Princess...off the coast of San Francisco!"

I've asked for updates on conditions aboard the ship and how they were keeping up. Will post anything I learn.

I knew yesterday that she and a friend of hers were there from another coworker who is friends with both ladies that are on the cruise.

The ironic thing is, right before they left for the cruise, I opined that they might want to postpone their trip due to that fact of possible problems caused by the virus on the Diamond Princess in Japan might also take place on the ship they were about to embark on. Both ladies thought my concern was unfounded and gave every indication that they thought I was nothing more than a fear monger.

I wonder if they remember that now because they gave me the impression that since I was a server/bartender there was no way I could be anywhere near as knowledgeable about things in this world as they.

originally posted by: FlyingSquirrel
Where has the ship been in the past month is what I'd like to know.

I'm not up to par with how long the virus incubates, stays alive in or on certain materials, but they didn't simply come down with it on the ocean. It infected the ship somewhere at a certain time within some recent amount of time.

The ship off California was returning to San Francisco after visiting Hawaii. Some of the passengers remained on board after sailing on its previous voyage, to the Mexican ports of Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

A Sacramento-area man who sailed on the ship in February later succumbed to the coronavirus. Two other passengers from that voyage have been hospitalized with the virus in Northern California, and two Canadians who recently sailed aboard the ship tested positive after returning home, officials said.

www.nbcnews.com...

It sounds like some of the passengers who remained on board from its previous voyage carried it? They they people on a previous voyage of the same ship got it and one died.

Apparently that previous Mexico cruise was fertile ground for the virus. A person from that cruise returned to Hawaii and became the first confirmed case in the state, though I guarantee there are more.

www.staradvertiser.com... t-gov-josh-green-says/

That ship really seems to be a breeding ground, and the last place it landed was on my island. Just waiting to hear how many more cases can be confirmed, though our ability (and willingness, evidently) to test are very limited.

a reply to: FlyingSquirrel

Where has the ship been in the past month is what I'd like to know.

From the a post in the Coronavirus Updates 4 thread:

originally posted by: InterplanetaryHobo
On March 4th, the first death in the state of California, due to coronavirus, was reported. This was to a 71 y.o. man. He is stated to have been a Placer county resident, passing away in the city of Roseville. Now Roseville is in the very western part of Placer county, and is approximately 15 miles east of Sacramento, the capital of California. Roseville is just under 100 miles from San Francisco. He had just recently came off a Mexican Rivera cruise on the ship Grand Princess. This is the Grand Princess itinerary from February 11, 2020 (www.icruise.com...://m_icruise_com/itin eraries/10-night-mexican-riviera-cruise_grand-princess_2-11-2020_html=&)
February 11 – San Francisco
February 15 – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
February 16 – Manzanillo, Mexico
February 17 – Mazatlan, Mexico
February 18 – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
February 21 – San Francisco

...

Third concern, since this ship departed to Hawaii on the same day it debarked from the Mexican Riviera Cruise, and had (I presume) the same 1100 crew members, along with 62 back to back cruisers (those who went directly from the Mexican Riviera Cruise to the Hawaiian Cruise, on the same ship). This is the scheduled itinerary for the Hawaiian Cruise for the Grand Princess from February 21,2020 (www.cruisemapper.com...):
February 21 – San Francisco
February 26 – Kauai Island
February 27 – Oahu Island (Honolulu)
February 28 – Maui Island (Lahaina)
February 29 – Hilo Island
March 5 – Ensenada, Mexico (Cancelled)
Mach 7 – San Francisco

...

quote trimmed for brevity

The USCG just did an evac from the Grand Princess and the chopper went straight to Stanford University medical Center

originally posted by: olaru12
What difference does it make when the virus stays virulent even when the infected don't show any symptoms.

Eventually they will have to let everyone off the ship anyway.

Go to LAX and see how many planes are landing with people from all over the globe entering the country on tourist visas.

www.flylax.com...

Isnt the main problem that this virus has shown to be very resilient on surfaces?

So unless they strip thousands people naked, shower them with disinfectants and literally burn all belongings, not showing symptoms and testing negative wont mean much. They might still "carry" the virus.

a reply to: FredT

I hope they take this lady.

A cancer patient quarantined on a cruise ship fears she won't make it home for her treatments www.msn.com... ocid=spartanntp

originally posted by: Sookiechacha
a reply to: FredT

I hope they take this lady.

A cancer patient quarantined on a cruise ship fears she won't make it home for her treatments www.msn.com... ocid=spartanntp

I believe she was evaced two days ago

A couple of days ago, one of my regular guests that I mentioned in this post made a post to Facebook as follows:

As many of you know, I am on the Grand Princess, somewhere west of Oakland, where we will dock tomorrow. Disembarkation will take days, with those most critical coming off first, CA residents will come off next, being sent to two military bases. We will likely be transported to Lackland A F base, in San Antonio, to begin our quarantine there.

[name redacted by j&c] and I remain healthy.

All is well, but I long for being home and back to my normal life! 😊😊

So as of right now, they do not appear to be under any sort of NdA, will update as new information is shared.



A couple of comments from the above post I wanted to share:

[name redacted], I am so sorry you are experiencing this. If you have to come to Lackland/San Antonio and are able to have visitors, please reach out to me. I'll bring you a care package! Would love to catch up anyway!

...

So bizarre that they won’t let you leave your room, but you are going to be transported somewhere as a group. I’m so sorry you are stuck there. I am also so grateful the two of you are healthy. ❤️❤️

The first comment above mentioning wanting to go visit someone who will be in quarantine, and then the second comment mentioning that it was bizarre that they were not just being left to roam the ship tells me that anyone thinking that self isolation is going to be at all effective in mitigating the spread of this just is not acknowledging reality.