Twenty-one people including 19 crew members and two passengers tested positive for coronavirus or COVID-19 on the Grand Princess, announced Mike Pence, Vice President of United States of America on Friday.
Pence added, "Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it."Testing kits are being dropped by helicopter and all the passengers will be tested, said Pence.
3,500 passengers struck on the cruise
More than 3,500 passengers from around 50 countries with crew members are stuck on the cruise that moored off from San Francisco. Grand Princess is in the news since a man died in its previous voyage due to coronavirus. Californian authorities did not allow the cruise to sail back to San Francisco from Hawaii due to the same reason.
The cruise was on 15 days trip but was cut short and scheduled to return to San Francisco this Wednesday. More than 35 people developed flu-like symptoms where former Democratic candidate, Dena Grayson posted to Twitter that all the passengers will be quarantined.
Similar cases
In a similar case like this, Costa Fortuna ship with 173 Italians was blocked to enter in Phuket. Since Italy is the fourth most affected country with more than 4,500 cases confirmed, Thailand had imposed restrictions on the landing of Italians due to coronavirus.
Whereas Carnival cruise line with its headquarter in Florida is offering passengers up to $200 worth of extra credit if they keep their bookings through May. This credit can be used for drinks, excursions, and other purchases made onboard.
Meanwhile, there have been more than 100,000 cases confirmed with around 3500 people died due to coronavirus outbreak globally. The US government is planning to take Grand Princess cruise to a non-commercial port where all the passengers will be tested.
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