Princess Ship Off California Testing Passengers for Virus

A Princess cruise ship, currently off the California coast near San Francisco, is testing some 100 passengers and crew for coronavirus. A former passenger of the ship became the state’s first person to die from the virus following a Grand Princess voyage that sailed roundtrip from San Francisco to Mexico between Feb. 11 and Feb. 21. Health officials are tracking down other passengers that were on the cruise who may have been exposed to the virus. Another passenger aboard the Mexico cruise has been hospitalized in Sonoma County, according to multiple media reports. Current passengers aboard the Grand Princess are returning from a Hawaii voyage that began Feb. 21. The U.S. Coast Guard delivered testing kits via helicopter to the ship on Thursday, to be administered by the Santa Clarita-based company’s onboard medical team, Princess said in a statement. No guests will be allowed to disembark until test results are received. Princess has cancelled its upcoming Hawaii cruise that was to depart on March 7; all guests will receive a full refund on cruise fare, Princess Air, hotel packages, prepaid shore excursions and other prepaid purchases through the company. Grand Princess is the company’s second ship to host cases of the virus. The Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined in Yokohama, Japan last month after a passenger tested positive. In a related development, shares of Carnival Corp. & plc (CCL), the Miami-based parent of Princess Cruises, closed Thursday down 14.1 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.