Carson declines to ‘preview’ plan for virus-stricken ship’s docking: ‘We shouldn’t have 16 people saying what the plan is’

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson on Sunday declined to “preview” the plan for the docking of the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is carrying  at least 21 passengers who contracted coronavirus.

ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos pushed Carson on how the government plans to manage the 3,500 people aboard the cruise ship.

{mosads}The HUD secretary said Vice President Mike Pence, whom President Trump charged with managing the outbreak, met with the major cruise line CEOs to implement a plan “within 72 hours” of the meeting.

“The ship’s docking tomorrow,” Stephanopoulos responded. 

“The plan will be in place by that time, but I don’t want to preview the plan right now,” Carson, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, answered. 

“I think it all needs to come from a solitary source,” he continued. “We shouldn’t have 16 people saying what the plan is, particularly when it hasn’t been fully formulated.”

MORE: Sec. Carson says a plan will be in place “within 72 hours” of Vice Pres. Mike Pence’s meeting with cruise ship company CEOs yesterday.@GStephanopoulos: “The ship’s docking tomorrow.”

Sec. Carson: “The plan will be in place by that time.” https://t.co/shL3Yddjze https://t.co/B5cIL3ZB30

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2020

Carson added “it’s possible for large numbers of people” to be infected with the virus, but promised the Trump administration is “working very hard, looking at all the evidence on a day-by-day basis.”

The Grand Princess’s captain announced Saturday that the ship will dock in Oakland, Calif. and begin a disembarkation process that could take several days. The Department of Health and Human Services  said U.S. citizens will be quarantined after leaving the boat. 

President Trump had said Friday that he would “rather have the people stay” on the ship to prevent the number of cases in the U.S. from climbing.

A different cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, had been quarantined off of Japan for two weeks earlier this month, and about 700 passengers contracted the virus.