WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. State Department is recommending American citizens do not travel on cruise ships because of the risk of coronavirus.
The below message can be found on the State Department's website:
The captain of a cruise ship that was hit by the coronavirus told passengers the ship was headed to the port of Oakland in the U.S. state of California.
Grand Princess Capt. John Smith, in a recording provided by passenger Laurie Miller of San Jose, told guests late Saturday, March 7 that the ship would dock in Oakland. Princess Cruises officials said it was expected to arrive on Monday -- carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries.
Smith said after medical screening, California residents who don’t require acute medical care would "go to a federally operated isolation facility within California for testing and isolation."
U.S. guests from other states would be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states, with crew quarantined and treated aboard the ship.
The Grand Princess had been forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence that the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of nearly 20 cases that resulted in at least one death after its previous voyage.
As of Sunday, March 8, there were more than 500 cases of coronavirus in the United States and more than 20 deaths.