Twenty-one stranded on cruise ship test positive for coronavirus

by Aimee Nestor on August 8, 2025

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<br>Horrified passengers only learned that nineteen crew members and two tourists aboard Grand Princess cruise ship had tested positive for coronavirus when Mike Pence announced the cases at his press conference.

Forty-six people on board were swabbed and 21 of them tested positive, Vice President Mike Pence revealed in a White House press conference Friday.

News of the outbreak came as two more deaths were announced in the US Friday night, both in Florida, taking the US total to 17.

The ship has been kept in a holding pattern in the Pacific Ocean off San Francisco for nearly two days and will now move on to a 'non commercial port' where all the 3,500 passengers and crew members will be unloaded and tested.

Friday's test results come amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of at least ten cases during its previous voyage.

The Grand Princess cruise ship passes the Golden Gate Bridge as it arrives from Hawaii in San Francisco. Twenty-one people on board have tested positive for the coronavirus

The news came as a shock to many passengers who only found out about the positive test results from Pence's press briefing, a passenger told CNN via video call.

'We apologize but we were not given advance notice of this announcement by the US federal government,' the ship's announcement broadcast was heard in the video. 'It would have been our preference to be the first to make this news available to you.'

Another distressed passenger, 17-year-old Kailee Higgins Ott, who is on the cruise with her mother, Leeann Higgins, told how they just happened to find out about the outbreak while watching CNN in their room.

She had told USA Today just hours earlier that they had been told to stay in their rooms while people were waiting for coronavirus test results

'We were just informed that after lunch time we need to stay in our rooms until we get the test results. The tests should be finished in about 4-6 hours and we will know results in the morning,' she said Thursday.

One angry passenger blasted President Trump's comments that he would rather keep everyone on board the ship to make US numbers around the outbreak look better.

'He's more than welcome to come onto the ship with us and serve us our dinners and bring me my towels,' Debbie Loftus, an American quarantined on the cruise ship with her elderly parents.

One angry passenger told how passengers only learned of the confirmed cases when Mike Pence announced the cases at his press conference

Vice President Mike Pence announced that 21 people tested positive for the coronavirus on borad the Grand Princess cruise ship docked off San Francisco - 19 crew and two passengers

She also voiced concerns that such a move would risk a repeat of the disastrous quarantine on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan, which ultimately saw 700 infected and six die.

'Does he not realize what happened on the Diamond Princess when they did that?' she said, in a video interview with CNN from her cabin.

The Grand Princess cruise ship, with some 3,500 people on board, will now not dock in San Francisco but was instead ordered to stay at sea Wednesday evening after several dozen people on board began to show symptoms.

A California National Guard helicopter brought coronavirus tests to the ship Thursday

The outbreak on board the Grand Princess cruise ship came as:

Trump signed an $8.3 billion measure to combat the coronavirus outbreak Friday

The president said 'anyone who wants a test can get a test' - despite shortages

New York state confirmed 11 new cases Friday, taking its total to 44

Silicon Valley continues to close its doors as major tech hubs of California and Seattle increasingly become virus hotspots

Apple told all 12,000 employees at its headquarters Apple Park to remain home Friday, following similar guidance from Facebook and Microsoft

Amazon and Facebook both have employees with the disease in Seattle

Officials in Austin announced that South by South West festival will be canceled

Most US cases have been linked to the Life Care Center nursing facility in Kirkland, near Seattle, which nine deaths are linked to

It emerged that three days before the first cases were confirmed, the facility held a 'germ-fest' party meaning the spread could be far wider than thought

Pence said the federal government is working with California officials on a plan to bring the ship to a non-commercial port this weekend and the 2,300 passengers, mostly Americans, and another 1,000 crew members, will be tested for the virus.

'We have been in discussion with Gov. (Gavin) Newsom,' Pence said.

Federal officials have been working with the state and 'we have developed a plan to bring the ship to a non-commercial port,' he added.

'All passengers and crew will be tested for the virus. Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it.'

'The general risk to the American public remains low,' Pence said but added that elderly Americans and those with pre-existing conditions should use caution, especially when traveling.

Confined to their cabins, passengers aboard a mammoth cruise ship off the California coast awaited coronavirus test results Friday amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of at least 10 cases during its previous voyage.

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On Thursday, a military helicopter crew lowered test kits onto the 951-foot (290-meter) Grand Princess by rope and later retrieved them for analysis as the vessel waited off San Francisco, under orders to keep its distance from shore.

Princess Cruises said 46 of the more than 3,500 people on board were tested and results revealed Friday that 21 of them tested positive.

Twenty-four others tested negative while one test was inconclusive.

On Friday, President Trump claimed that he would prefer the passengers and crew to remain on the ship so they don't add to the rising American cases.

'I have great experts, including our vice president, who's working 24 hours a day on this stuff,' Trump told reporters.

'They would like to have the people come off, I'd rather have the people stay. But I'd go with them. I told them to make the final decision.'

'I like the numbers being where they are.

'I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault. And it wasn't the fault of the people on the ship either.

'I can live either way with it,' he continued.

'I'd rather have them stay on, personally. But I fully understand if they want to take them off. I gave them the authority to make the decision'

Passengers on board the Grand Princess cruise ship, which had previously carried two passengers who contracted the coronavirus, watch while a U.S. military helicopter hovers

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. Tests for 21 people on board, including 19 crew and two passengers, have tested positive

The US's handling of the cruise ship outbreak has come under fire after the 3,500 people on board - including the captain - were kept in the dark over the confirmed cases until Pence told reporters at the Friday press conference.

Loftus spoke of the outrage among passengers that not even the captain was told in advance of the now-confirmed outbreak.

'We were watching NBC and we heard it and were like excuse me, the passengers were supposed to be notified first,' she told CNN.

'I immediately called down to passenger services and said you better get the captain aware of what's going on and get on the intercom.

'And he did come on about 10 minutes later but the fact that we weren't told first made us quite upset and angry.'

'There's no excuse for this,' she added.

The concerned passenger said they have no idea how dangerous the situation is.

'We have absolutely no idea except that they are going to be testing every single person on the boat otherwise we have no idea,' she said.

But she added that it is 'in all likelihood' that her and her parents - who are in their 80s - will have come into contact with the infected crew members.

'We have no idea what role they had on the ship so we don't have enough information right now.'

Loftus said she is worried about her parents, given the higher risk of the infection among older people.

'If they were to get sick then I'd be extremely concerned,' she said.

Loftus spoke of the outrage among passengers that not even the captain was told in advance of the now-confirmed outbreak. 'We were watching NBC and we heard it and were like excuse me, the passengers were supposed to be notified first,' she told CNN

One angry passenger blasted President Trump's comments that he would rather keep everyone on board the ship to make US numbers around the outbreak look better. 'He's more than welcome to come onto the ship with us and serve us our dinners and bring me my towels,' Debbie Loftus, an American quarantined on the cruise ship with her elderly parents

Loftus said that it is 'in all likelihood' that her and her parents - who are in their 80s - will have come into contact with the infected crew members. She is worried for her parents' safety

The testing began after it was reported that a passenger on a previous voyage of the ship, in February, died of the disease.

In the past few days, health authorities disclosed that at least nine other people who were on the same journey were also found to be infected. And some passengers on that trip stayed aboard for the current voyage.

The only people tested were those who were showing symptoms or who had been on the previous trip.

'The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers,' California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.

The ship off California was returning to San Francisco after visiting Hawaii.

A Sacramento-area man who sailed aboard the Grand Princess last month during a visit to a series of Mexican ports later succumbed to the coronavirus, according to California authorities.

Others who were on that voyage have also tested positive, with seven cases in Northern California and two in Canada, authorities said.

However, Mexico's top epidemiologist denied that the passenger who died in California was on a ship that visited Mexican ports. Dr. José Luis Alomía Zegarra said the man was on a different cruise that did not stop in Mexico.

A cruise ship worker cleans a railing on the Grand Princess off the California coast

A group of medical personnel with the 129th Rescue Wing, working alongside individuals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, don protective equipment after delivering virus testing kits to the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California

Three dozen passengers on the Grand Princess have had flu-like symptoms over the past two weeks or so, said Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of San Francisco's Department of Emergency Management.

An epidemiologist who studies the spread of virus particles said the recirculated air from a cruise ship's ventilation system, plus the close quarters and communal settings, make passengers vulnerable to infectious diseases.

'They´re not designed as quarantine facilities, to put it mildly,' said Don Milton of the University of Maryland.

'You´re going to amplify the infection by keeping people on the boat.

'My advice is to get people off and <a href="https://jetblacktransportation.com/c/t/how-to-transfer-from-westchester-county-to-jfk-airport-ny/">JetBlack</a>; into a safer quarantine environment than a cruise ship,' Milton said.

Michele Smith, a Grand Princess passenger, posted a video on Facebook of the helicopter that arrived at the ship. Another video showed a crew member wearing gloves and a mask and spraying and wiping a handrail.

'We have crews constantly cleaning our ship,' Smith was heard saying.

In a post, Smith said she and her husband were not quarantined and were told that only the people who had been on the Mexico voyage or those showing flu-like symptoms had to isolate themselves.

'Spirits are as high as can be under these circumstances. We are blessed to be healthy, comfortable and well-fed,' she wrote.

Friday's test results come amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of at least ten cases during its previous voyage

This handout photo shows an interior view of the Grand Princess cruise ship on March 5

Meanwhile, the US death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 17, with all but three victims in Washington state, while the number of infections swelled to around 300, scattered across about half the states.

The latest two deaths were in Lee County and Santa Rosa County, Florida.

President Donald Trump has signed an $8.3 billion measure to help public health agencies deal with crisis and spur development of vaccines and treatments.

Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 100,000 people and killed over 3,400, the vast majority of them in China. Most cases have been mild, and more than half of those infected have recovered.

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TRUMP CLAIMS 'ANYBODY WHO WANTS A TEST CAN GET A TEST' AS HE COMMITS $8.3 BILLION TO TACKLING CRISIS

President Donald Trump plunged coronavirus testing into chaos Friday when he announced that 'anybody who wants a test can get a test' during a rambling press conference Friday.

The president brushed off concerns about the limited number of coronavirus test kits during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta Friday.

He left officials scrambling to explain how such a commitment could happen after free-wheeling press availability where he publicly disagreed with his own government's approach to the cruise ship, referenced impeachment, asked about TV ratings, and called a Democratic government 'a snake.'

'The tests are beautiful,' Trump added after meeting with top U.S. scientists amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile Maryland announced its first cases; Trump was there on Tuesday to visit the National Institutes of Health's Vaccine Research Center and get an update from Dr. Anthony Fauci

'Anybody who right now and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test,' Trump said.

Trump praised his own administration's response amid concerns that the million test kits promised had yet to materialize.

'We've done a tremendous job at keeping it down,' he said.

And Trump shared his misgivings about providing on-shore medical treatment to passengers of a Princess cruise liner off the coast of San Francisco. He raised concerns it would spike the numbers of infected Americans.

'I like the numbers where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship. That wasn't our fault,' Trump said.

The president during his trip to the CDC called Washington State Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee a 'snake.' He also appeared to criticize Pence's approach.

'Oh I told Mike not to be complimentary … that governor is a snake. I said if you're nice to him he will take advantage,' Trump said. 'We have a lot of problems with the governor, the governor of Washington,' he said, adding: 'Mike may be happy with him but I'm not.'

Inslee, who ran for president this year and is overseeing an outbreak in his state, had tweeted last week that he told Pence their work would be more successful if the administration 'stuck to the science and told the truth.'

Trump submitted to a series of questions from reporters at the CDC, where his comments veered to his appearance Thursday night at a Fox News town hall. He brought up his appearance on 'a very fine network known as Fox News. How was the show last night? Did it get good ratings, by the way?' he asked.

Trump, who wore his signature red 'Make America Great' hat during the briefing about the response to the potential pandemic, swerved between the coronavirus issue and his political grievances.

He also invoked his own uncle, Dr. John Trump, in explaining his aptitude for dealing with the issue. 'I like this stuff. I really get it,' Trump said.

'The general risk to the American public remains low,' Pence told reporters in the White House briefing room.

'It is a good time for any American who is elderly … and has a serious underlying health condition to think carefully about travel,' he said.

Signed: DOnald Trump only asked Congress for just above $2 billion but they rejected that and both houses passed and $8.3 billion spending bill

The president's visit to the Centers for Disease Control was in question earlier in th day - after abruptly taking the visit off his schedule over a person at the CDC who was being tested for the disease.

Trump told reporters Friday morning the trip got scrapped or postponed because a person at the government facility was being tested for the virus that has now resulted in the deaths of 17 Americans.

But a few hours later, the White House backpedaled on plans and included a flight to Atlanta and the CDC in the president's official schedule.

Trump also signed a bill allocating $8.3 billion to combat the outbreak.

The funding measure provides money for public health agencies for tests, vaccines and other treatments. It will also provide money to state and local governments to respond to the epidemic.

The House passed the legislation Wednesday and the Senate did so on Thursday, a rapid response to increased public fears about the disease, which has disrupted schools, airlines, and spring break plans.

The measure more than triples the $2.5 billion amount <a href="https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/outlined">outlined</a>; by the White House last month, which Democrats criticized as too little, too late.

A group of lawmakers from both parties negotiated the increased figure and other provisions in the measure in a rare sign of bipartisanship.

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BLOW FOR WORLD'S BIGGEST TECH FIRMS AS SILICON VALLEY SHUTS ITS DOORS AND SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST FESTIVAL IS AXED

Apple has advised all 12,000 employees at its Cupertino headquarters to work from home

The world's tech giants have been dealt a major blow from the coronavirus crisis as Silicon Valley continues to shut its doors and South by Southwest Festival is cancelled.

On Friday, Apple became the latest Silicon Valley firm to advise its workers to stay away in coronavirus-hit California.

Apple advised all 12,000 employees at its Cupertino headquarters to work from home amid heightened coronavirus concerns as the death toll in the US continued to rise.

In a memo seen by DailyMail.com and issued to all staff at the Santa Clara Valley offices named Apple Park, employees were told that the precaution was being taken following recent guidance from public health officials.

Staff were advised that offices would remain open but that they were 'encouraging team members' to stay away despite only sending the email when many would already be traveling to work.

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