Cruise lines will change the way they board passengers after Princess Cruises said on Saturday that a Californian who died on Wednesday was likely infected with the coronavirus before boarding the Grand Princess last month.
Finding that a Grand Princess passenger apparently boarded the ship with an infection suggests that spread to the community began weeks before authorities first diagnosed the country’s first case of unknown coronavirus , also a resident of California.
In a conference call with reporters on Saturday evening, Grant Tarling, chief medical officer of Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Princess Cruises, said that the man had boarded the ship in San Francisco on February 11, while he was leaving for Mexico.
Tarling said the man sought medical treatment at the ship’s medical center on February 20 and reported symptoms of “acute respiratory illness” for about a week. Since Tarling noted that the new coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has an incubation period of five to six days, it is likely that the man was infected before boarding the ship.
“We believe this business was acquired by the community in California and brought to the ship,” said Tarling.
Tarling said Princess was informed on March 2 that the man, in the early 1970s, had tested positive for coronavirus in Placer County, California. The man died Wednesday in a hospital in Roseville, California, where he had been placed in medical isolation. Tarling did not say if anyone knew how or where the man had been infected.
Tarling added a server on the Grand Princess who had contacted the California passenger was one of 19 Princess employees who tested positive for coronavirus on Friday. Two passengers were also tested positive.
Since returning to San Francisco from Mexico on February 21, the ship has sailed to Hawaii. He is now standing offshore near San Francisco with about 3,500 passengers and crew, awaiting news from local, state and federal authorities on what will happen next.
The Grand Princess is the second Princess Cruises ship in recent weeks to be put in limbo due to the coronavirus. Last month, the Diamond Princess was detained for nearly two weeks off the coast of Japan, after authorities determined what to do with its passengers and crew. Of the approximately 2,700 passengers on board, more than 700 tested positive for the coronavirus and six died.
New boarding protocols
Earlier on Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf met with cruise line officials in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and announced new procedures as operators of cruise lines will adopt to prevent the spread of coronavirus on their ships.
Pence said that the objective of the meeting on Saturday was for the cruise industry “to intensify their efforts to protect the health and safety of their passengers, their crews and the communities to which they all return.”
“The American people appreciate our cruise industry,” said Pence. “Nevertheless, we recognize all of the recent challenges posed to the Diamond Princess and the current challenge with the Grand Princess in the spread of the coronavirus.”
In the next 72 hours, the industry, with the help of DHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Coast Guard, Pence said cruise operators will develop new guidelines in three areas:
- Additional improvement in entry and exit screening and onboard coronavirus testing.
- New quarantine standards will be coordinated with the CDC for all cruise ships.
- A protocol for moving all patients who contract the coronavirus or who fall seriously ill in terrestrial facilities.
Pence said that the approach to screening, testing and treating sick passengers and crew would be an industry-led effort. He added that there was no need to discourage people from going on cruises, with the exception of the most at risk population – especially the elderly with serious underlying health problems.
Pence said he did not see the need to discourage Americans from cruising or traveling in general.
Tarling said during the conference call that the Carnival would encourage more widespread use of hand sanitizer and regular hand washing among its passengers and crew. He also said the ships would receive a disinfectant capable of killing the coronavirus in 30 seconds.
Tarling also said the company would advise passengers to practice social isolation, such as sitting at least one seat away from their dining companions.
“Everything is done at the fleet level,” he said. “We have adopted these measures throughout our fleet.”
The Cruise Line Industry Association, a trade group, said in a statement that it would provide more details on the new procedures in the coming days.
“We are already working hard,” said Adam Goldstein, world president of the industry group.
Jan Swartz, President of Princess Cruises, said during the conference call that the coronavirus had created a new reality for the cruise industry around the world, adding: “We intend to be flexible and adapt” .