[ad_1]
Several health-compromised children are among the ship’s passengers, a top federal health official said.
Masks have been delivered to every stateroom on the cruise ship, and passengers are being asked to wear them when they open their cabin doors, passenger Teresa Johnson told CNN, citing an announcement delivered throughout the ship.
Passengers are being instructed to keep a carry-on bag with passports, proof of citizenship, medication and any items that may be required for 24 hours of care, she said.
Disembarking the thousands of people on board the ship will be a “multiple day process,” Princess Cruises, which operates the vessel, said in a statement.
‘I would love to see my family. However …’
Evacuating the ship will require a step-by-step approach prioritizing the most vulnerable among the ship’s more than 3,500 passengers and crew, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“First of all, there are some children there who are compromised. They want to get them off. There are people who have conditions. They want to get them off. You want to get the Americans who are in California off. You want to get the others off who are going to get onto flights and go to different places,” he said. “Get the ones who need help the help they need, and get the others to where they need to be.”
Johnson and her husband are aboard the ship celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary, and they’ve been fortunate because they have a larger cabin with a balcony and have been able to enjoy fresh air more than other passengers, she told CNN in a phone interview. They’ve been watching Marvel movies to pass the time.
The couple will be flown to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, with other passengers, but what happens next is a mystery, she said. Among the questions left unanswered is when the quarantine period begins, she said.
“It’s going to be a lot more time away from our family,” she said. “I would love to see my family. However, I also know there’s a lot of concerns from a lot of people, and so my approach is I think it’s the right thing to do. I think quarantining everybody for those 14 days is in the best interest of other people and their health.”
Quarantines await
When the ship docks, passengers will undergo medical screening by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a statement from Travis Air Force Base.
Passengers showing symptoms and those in need of medical support will be the first off the vessel, ship Capt. John Harry Smith said. Asymptomatic passengers will be taken to military installations for screening and a 14-day quarantine.
California residents will be taken to Travis Air Force Base or Marine Corps Air Station Miramar while residents of other states will go to Texas or Georgia. Charter flights will be arranged for international guests, the captain said.
The ship’s 1,113 crew members will remain on the ship when it departs the Port of Oakland. Plans for their quarantine have not been determined, the cruise line said.
Cabin Isolation
The cruise was intended to be a two-week voyage from San Francisco to Mexico to Hawaii, but was rerouted on its return trip when officials learned that a California man who had traveled on the ship last month contracted coronavirus and died.
The passengers now find themselves confined to their rooms and facing two weeks of quarantine when they disembark.
“I don’t know what to expect,” California resident Archie Dill said. “If they had a well-formed plan and let us know what was happening that would be one thing, but right now you’re looking at an uncertain destination.”
Attempts to limit the virus from spreading to healthy passengers have resulted in little contact among those on board, Dill said.
Passengers have been entertained in their quarters by activity kits with word searches, sudoku and quizzes handed out by the crew.
A rotation program has been implemented to allow the passengers to get fresh air and sunlight, Smith said
In Florida, the CDC issued a no-sail order to another cruise ship, the Caribbean Princess, after learning two crew members had transferred from another vessel, aboard which at least one guest tested positive for the virus. Neither crew member appears symptomatic and they are both remaining in their cabins out of an abundance of caution, Princess Cruises said in a statement.
The Caribbean Princess will make a brief stop at Grand Cayman for test kits and then set sail for Florida. The ship is expected to remain anchored off the coast of Florida until the ‘no sail’ order is lifted by the CDC, the statement said.
The Regal Princess was held off the coast of Florida under similar circumstances Sunday. Two crew members were tested for coronavirus, and after the tests came back negative the ship was allowed to dock and passengers were allowed to disembark.
Requests for self-quarantine as cases spike
At least 26 people have died from the virus in the United States — 22 in Washington state, two in Florida and two in California.
Many of the nation’s coronavirus cases have been in Washington, where at least 137 people have been infected.
There are also more than 100 cases in New York, where officials announced 16 new cases Sunday. New York state officials have urged more than 2,500 people to self-quarantine, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency Saturday.
In California, more than 9,700 returning travelers were told to stay home and monitor their health, health officials said Thursday.
Self-quarantine is reserved for people who may have come into contact with someone who was infected. People in self-quarantine are asked to remain at home until it can be determined that they are not ill. Health officials can issue orders to make those quarantines mandatory and make violating them illegal.
Shifting into mitigation
The US response to coronavirus has shifted from containment to mitigation, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday.
“Initially, we had a posture of containment so that we could give people time to prepare for where we are right now. We’re shifting into a mitigation phase, which means that we’re helping communities understand you’re going to see more cases,” Adams said.
“Unfortunately, you’re going to see more deaths, but that doesn’t mean that we should panic.”
CNN’s Eliott C. McLaughlin, Steve Almasy, Holly Yan, Faith Karimi, Lucy Kafanov, Dakin Andone, Alisyn Camerota, Dan Simon, John Berman, Jack Hannah, Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link