40 Nevadans who were on cruise ship tracked for coronavirus

Vice President Mike Pence announced Friday that 21 people aboard the cruise ship off the California coast had tested positive for COVID-19.

Federal health authorities won’t allow the ship, the Grand Princess, to dock in San Francisco after a man who was aboard the ship on a previous voyage in February died from the virus. Ten others who were on the cruise tested positive for the coronavirus, health officials have said.

The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday night that 40 people from Nevada left the Princess Cruises ship Feb. 21 from the previous voyage. State health authorities said those Nevadans will be contacted for testing.

The Grand Princess left San Francisco on Feb. 21 for a new trip. Aboard the ship Friday night were 3,500 people who have been quarantined to their cabins since Thursday afternoon.

Passenger Ronald Griebell said he and his wife and daughter watched the announcement on Fox News from their cabin on the Grand Princess. It was the first time they learned that 21 people aboard their ship — 19 crew members and two passengers — had tested positive for COVID-19.

The 78-year-old Summerlin resident said he and his wife had been locked in their cabin for more than 24 hours. He said bathrooms hadn’t been cleaned, the trash hadn’t been taken out and masks had not yet been given to passengers.

“We are treated as if we are the cause of all these problems, we are the ones that are the danger to the ship,” Griebell told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday night. “Meanwhile, we had 19 crew members running around with the coronavirus. It leaves you with a very bad feeling.”

On Thursday, a military helicopter ferried testing kits to and from the Grand Princess. Federal authorities said 46 people were tested during that round of testing. Of those, 21 tested positive.

“We have developed a plan to bring the ship to a noncommercial port,” Pence said Friday. “All passengers and crew will be tested for the virus. Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it.”

In Northern Nevada, an unidentified man in his 50s tested positive in an initial test for the disease. The Washoe County resident had been a passenger on the cruise ship that is now in quarantine off San Francisco. He is self-isolating at home and is reportedly in stable condition. The state is waiting on confirmation of his preliminary results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Clark County on Friday night, a man remained in serious condition at VA Medical Center in North Las Vegas after testing presumptively positive for the virus. The patient was in isolation at the hospital, according to the Southern Nevada Health District. Health officials said the patient’s results are “presumptive positive” until the CDC confirms the results.

Back on the Grand Princess, Griebell said his doctor wants him to take 10,000 steps a day to keep him healthy. Grounded in his cabin, he managed less than 400 steps all day Friday.

“We could be on here for another few days; we could be on here for a week,” he said. “The unknown is the most difficult to deal with.”

Contact Dalton LaFerney at dlaferney@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0288. Follow @daltonlaferney on Twitter.