Cruise Ship Protocols Questioned Following First California Coronavirus-Linked Death

KEY POINTS

Passengers question cruise ship protocols
Coast Guard delivered 300 coronavirus test kits
CDC to prioritize symptomatic passengers
Elderly man, 71, recorded as first coronavirus-linked death in CA

Following the death of an elderly man aboard the Grand Princess Cruise ship, passengers started to question the ship's protocols on handling the possibilities of passengers infected with coronavirus.

On Thursday, California health authorities reported 35 people aboard the cruise ship displaying flu-like symptoms after it was quarantined off the coast of San Francisco and the Coast Guard immediately delivered 300 coronavirus testing kits to the ship.

“Cuccinelli said there is inadequate capacity at health care facilities to bring large numbers of passengers ashore for quarantine, leading lawmakers to question if authorities would again seek to quarantine COVID-19 cases on board a ship held offshore.” https://t.co/cFLOU9IuII
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 5, 2020

Weeks ago, a state of emergency was called when a 71-year-old man became California's first coronavirus-linked death and it occurred after he disembarked from the Grand Princess in San Francisco where two new cases have been recently confirmed, CBS News reported.

Passengers aboard the ship shared their sentiments that they were not scared but, rather, they were concerned about the ship's protocols.

One passenger, Chris Grady was concerned about the passengers being allowed to roam around the common areas despite one of the ship's previous passengers died on Wednesday.

According to Mary Ellen Carroll, an official at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, the CDC would select which passnegers would be tested with the 300 kits but they would prioritize those who are showing symptoms.