Thousands of passengers on board the Grand Princess cruise ship are being held off the coast of California amid a suspected coronavirus outbreak as a state of emergency was declared across the state.
It comes after two people who traveled on the ship during a cruise to Mexico last month were confirmed to have caught the virus.
The first was a 71-year-old man who died in Placer County, east of Sacramento, on Wednesday in California’s first fatality from the disease. The second, from the Bay Area, is currently in hospital and ‘gravely ill’.
Now 11 passengers returning from a subsequent cruise to Hawaii on the same vessel have reported symptoms, along with 10 members of the crew.
Sixty two people who were on the Mexican cruise, had contact with the two victims and continued on the Hawaii cruise have also been confined to their rooms.
Thousands of people on board the Grand Princess cruise ship are being held off the coast of California after a suspected coronavirus outbreak on board (file image)
The Grand Princess is currently 400 miles off San Francisco and heading for port having returned from Hawaii after 11 passengers and 10 crew reported symptoms of coronavirus
It is unclear if the 21 people reporting symptoms are among the 62 who had contact with the man.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who declared a state of emergency over the virus Wednesday, said the ship will be held off-shore while coronavirus testing kits are flown out to the suspected patients.
‘The ship will not come onshore until we properly assess passengers’, he said.
Passengers were due to be tested Thursday with kits flown back to labs in San Francisco which Newsom hoped would provide results in a matter of hours.
Two passengers – who identified themselves as Laura and Leah – uploaded a YouTube video showing themselves in their cabin after a warning was issued.
They are shown reading out a statement from the cruise line while one of them coughs, though the pair insist they do not have coronavirus.
It comes after another Princess Cruises ship – the Diamond Princess – became the site of one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks while cruising in Asia.
The ship was held off the coast of Japan for almost two weeks in an attempt to quarantine passengers in their cabins after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus.
The quarantine ultimately failed, and led to more than 700 people falling ill and six deaths. At the time it was the worst outbreak outside of mainland China.
California’s first coronavirus victim had boarded the Grand Princess in San Francisco on February 11 for a ten-day voyage to Mexico, arriving back on February 21.
The man subsequently fell ill and went to hospital in Placer County, to the east of Sacramento, where he was diagnosed with the virus Tuesday.
Two passengers who took a cruise to Mexico on board the same vessel were diagnosed with the virus Tuesday, before one died Wednesday in California’s first confirmed fatality. 11 people have now died across the US
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday, and said coronavirus testing kits are now being flown to the Grand Princess
He died the following day. Medics say it is ‘highly likely’ he was exposed to the virus on board the Grand Princess, though have not said how the disease got on board.
The Grand Princess can hold up to 2,500 passengers and 1,150 crew. It is not clear how many people are currently on board.
Ship tracking data shows the vessel headed off on its current cruise on February 21, the same day the now-deceased man disembarked.
It then sailed to Nawiliwili on Kauai Island, Hawaii, before visiting Oahu Island, Maui Island, and Hawaii Island.
The vessel was then due to call at Ensenada in Mexico but skipped the last stage of its journey to return to San Francisco.
It is currently around 400 miles off the coast, and is due to arrive on Thursday afternoon.
A statement from the cruise line said that it had been alerted by the Centers for Disease Control that a ‘small cluster’ of coronavirus cases in northern California had been linked to the ship.
‘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,’ it said.
‘A member of our medical team will be calling you between the hours of 8am and 11am this morning.’
The US has declared 157 cases of coronavirus as panic buying hits shops, with sales of hand sanitizer rising 75 per cent year-on-year
Vice President Mike Pence, who has been placed in charge of handling the government’s coronavirus response, speaks to the media after a close-door meeting in Washington
Earlier in the day, health officials in nearby Washington state said a 10th person had died there.
Los Angeles County officials reported six new cases in the West Coast metropolis, while the number of confirmed cases in New York state rose to 11.
One of the Los Angeles cases concerns a medical screener at the city’s international airport checking overseas travelers for symptoms.
The Department of Homeland Security said the worker was under self-quarantine at home along with family members and was showing mild symptoms.
“DHS is happy to report that this individual was highly trained and did everything right both on the job and when they began to feel sick,” a statement said.
“We are told the individual wore all the correct protective equipment and took necessary protections on the job.”
Nationwide, more than 130 people have been infected, with the virus detected in more than a dozen states.
The suspected outbreak on board the Grand Princess comes after the Diamond Princess became the site of one of the world’s worst outbreaks when it was quarantined off Japan
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Republicans and Democrats had reached a deal to fund the response to the outbreak to the tune of $8.3 billion.
The House of Representatives passed the measure, and the Senate was to vote Thursday.
Vice President Mike Pence, the White House’s pointman on the crisis, told reporters he would be traveling to Minnesota Thursday to visit a plant manufacturing personal protective equipment including masks.
He will then visit Washington state and meet with Governor Jay Inslee to review containment efforts in the Seattle area.
All of the newly infected individuals in Los Angeles were exposed to COVID-19 through close contact, health officials said.
Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said three of the cases concerned travelers who had gone together to northern Italy – a virus hotspot with more than 100 deaths.
Two other cases involved individuals who had come in contact with a family member who had the virus and the last was the airport screener.
“The step we’re taking today is about preparation, not panic,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti of the emergency declaration.
Officials said they expected the number of infections in California to rise in the coming days and urged families to brace for possible school closures and the cancelation of public events.