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Thousands Prepare to Get Off Ship Hit by Virus in California

Associated Press

   SAN FRANCISCO - Federal and state officials in California were
   preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that
   has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people
   aboard infected with the coronavirus.

   Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland,
   as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,000
   passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home
   countries for a 14-day quarantine. More than 3,500 on the ship hail
   from 54 countries.

   "We're making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and
   quickly as possible," said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of
   Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their
   rooms.

   As the U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 21 and the
   number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000, California Gov. Gavin
   Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none
   of the Grand Princess passengers would be exposed to the U.S. public
   before completing the quarantine. The number of infections in the
   United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.

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