Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco. ─ AP
Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco. ─ AP

Federal and state officials in California are preparing to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the cost of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the novel coronavirus.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the Port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,000 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine, AP reported. More than 3,500 on the ship hail from 54 countries.

“We’re making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible,” said Dr John Redd of the US Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.

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