President Trump said Friday he spoke with California Gov. Gavin Newsom about how to handle a cruise ship idling off the coast of San Francisco with suspected cases of coronavirus among the thousands of passengers who want to come home to the mainland U.S.
“We have to make a decision,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s a big decision, because we have very low numbers [of infection] compared to major countries throughout the world.”
The Grand Princess, with more than 2,000 passengers, has been unable to return to port after a trip to Hawaii because a patient who died from the virus had previously traveled on the ship. Officials flew test kits by helicopter to the ship after authorities learned some passengers and crew members on board were showing symptoms.
Mr. Trump indicated a decision would be coming soon on whether to allow the ship to dock.
“It’s a massive ship,” he said. “They want to come in, so we have to make a decision. They were doing testing on those people. We’re working with the governor of California.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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