SAN DIEGO —
Some of the passengers that have been stuck on a cruise ship returning from Hawai'i to Oakland due to COVID-19 concerns will be quarantined in San Diego county.
At least 21 of the roughly 3,000 people on board the Grand Princess cruise have tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 1,000 passengers who are California residents will complete the mandatory quarantine at Travis Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will work with state and local partners in California to support passengers returning to the United States on the Grand Princess cruise ship," said the Department of Health and Human Services.
The ship will dock temporarily in a non-passenger port in San Francisco Bay.
Grand Princess Capt. John Smith told passengers in an audio address that the ship will dock in Oakland, California, likely Sunday afternoon.
"The Port of Oakland was chosen because it is one of a limited number of docks that can accommodate a ship the size of the Grand Princess, and because it was the easiest to seal off, securely move passengers toward their isolation destinations and protect the safety of the public," the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services said in a statement.
Passengers will be transferred to federal military installations for medical screening, COVID-19 testing, and a 14-day quarantine.
"Residents of other states will complete the mandatory quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia. Throughout the quarantine, passengers will be monitored for symptoms of COVID-19," said HHS. "The Department of State is working closely with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange for repatriation to their countries."
Officials say the first patient to die of the virus in California, a 71-year-old man, was probably exposed to coronavirus while on that cruise from San Francisco to Mexico sometime between Feb. 11 to Feb. 21. Newsom says "at least" half of the thousands of passengers are Californians, not counting crew members.
This news comes after Newsom declared a "state of emergency" last week.
