Officials Working To Trace Spread Of Coronavirus From Grand Princess Cruise
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Officials say 2,500 guests got off a cruise ship last week in San Francisco and at least two of them had coronavirus while on the ship — the 71-year-old Placer County man who died and the Sonoma County woman.
The ship then went on to Hawaii and those passengers are now quarantined off the coast of California near San Francisco. Several passengers and employees on board have begun displaying symptoms of the coronavirus, so officials with the CDC and Coast Guard flew in test kits Wednesday afternoon to see if those people had the virus.
We asked Dr. Peter Beilenson with the Sacramento County Department of Public Health about the passengers who got off in San Francisco on Feb. 20.
"They have not all been reached yet, by any means, and a lot of people, they're already out there in the community, talking to people, and potentially spreading the virus," Beilenson said.
The Sonoma County woman on the Grand Princess cruise ship who got sick after returning home told KPIX 5 she made several calls to the cruise line and local health officials but was told not to worry and never told to get tested.
Out of fear she says she isolated herself and got tested anyway, which she says came back positive for coronavirus. The cruise line said in a statement that that CDC informed passengers Wednesday about the virus and to find a doctor if they begin to feel sick.
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Other cruise ship passengers who may have been exposed are still in a 14-day incubation period. That means they may not have symptoms or know if they've been infected.
CBS13 sat down with the Sacramento County Department of Public Health to ask about that and other coronavirus concerns, now that local health officials say the risk here is no longer "low." Beilenson said we don't have enough tests right now to test 2,600 people, but there will be enough in the "very near future."
Watch the full interview below:
