Second Princess cruise ship with possible coronavirus onboard held offshore near San Francisco

A second Princess cruise ship, called the Grand Princess, is reportedly being held off the shore of San Francisco after authorities discovered links to the deadly coronavirus onboard.

The ship returned to San Francisco on Wednesday, where it is currently being held as authorities test 10 crew members and 11 passengers with coronavirus symptoms, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Passengers interviewed by the Times said Princess Cruises was lax with health screenings before boarding the ship and did not inform customers about risk factors.

On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a statewide emergency after the state’s first coronavirus death, a 71-year-old passenger with pre-existing medical conditions who was exposed to the virus while on board.

A second passenger from the Grand Princess has been hospitalized with the virus.

Another Princess Cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, had spent several days in coronavirus quarantine in Japanese waters. More than 700 people who were on board, including Americans, eventually tested positive for the disease.

Newsom confirmed about half of the 2,500 passengers on board the Grand Princess are from California and noted that health authorities are attempting to track down those people.

Princess Cruises released a statement saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had said it is investigating a cluster of cases involving the ship. The company said it is working alongside the federal agency for aid. 

CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield told The Hill Wednesday evening that the agency is working to assess the situation with the cruise line.

“We are working in support of the California Health Department that’s in the process of evaluating another cruise ship where they do have confirmed cases,” he said. “We’re at the very beginning of that looking at the manifest to make sure we understand who’s gotten off the cruise and where they got off the cruise, and we’re really involved in that entire contact follow up as we speak.”

Newsom said the ship would remain offshore until all passengers at risk had been tested for the coronavirus.

Several passengers interviewed from the Times said they learned about their situation from the media before any announcements were made by the crew.

“I found out from CNN,” another passenger said of their revelation.

As of Wednesday afternoon, California has reported 53 cases of the virus, according to a previous report.