California State has declared an official Emergency.
It gives the governor and health department enough power to refuse this ship docking. And/or to force all passengers into quarantine.
But they won’t use it.
This will be a new decision making problem for the Calif. politicians.
Remember last month when the DIAMOND Princess was impounded in Japan, and the Americans wanted the American passengers brought home?
We will see how this works out. -Tom
Californian authorities refused to allow cruise ship Grand Princess to sail back to San Francisco from Hawaii on Wednesday night after it was revealed that a man who had travelled in the ship in its previous voyage died of coronavirus. Thousands of holidaymakers in Grand Princess are stranded after officials demanded more time for testing and screening of people onboard.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said that it is feared that 11 passengers and 10 crew members are potentially infected with Covid-19.Newsom confirmed that a 71-year-old man who had travelled in the ship when it sailed to Mexico died of coronavirus, becoming the first fatality in the state.
The ship is held off the coast to allow officials more time for testing of "a number of passengers and crew members that have developed symptoms", the governor said, according to AFP. "So we're holding that ship, which (has) thousands of passengers as well, off the coast, and we'll be conducting those tests," Newsom added.