COVID-19 pandemic on Grand Princess
During the COVID-19 pandemic, former passengers of the cruise ship Grand Princess who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were being linked to cruises they had taken on the ship while it traveled between California, Mexico, and Hawaii. After the first confirmed death on 4 March 2020, Grand Princess was rerouted to the San Francisco Bay Area, where it was anchored offshore while test kits were airlifted to the ship. Preliminary testing found 21 positive cases, and the ship later docked in Oakland on 9 March 2020, with over 3,000 people entering quarantine.
See also: COVID-19 pandemic on cruise shipsAs of 28 April 2020, at least 122[b] people who were on Grand Princess when it was rerouted are known to have tested positive for the virus, and 7 people have died.
Lawsuits[edit]
At least a dozen lawsuits have been filed by passengers of Grand Princess against companies responsible for the cruise ship.[57]
On 9 March 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Princess Cruise Lines by a Floridian couple that were passengers still aboard Grand Princess at the time.[58] The lawsuit alleged that Princess Cruise Lines did not screen passengers appropriately for the virus prior to boarding[n] and that the cruise line did not warn passengers that symptoms of the virus had been observed on passengers of the previous voyage.[58][59]
On 8 April 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Princess Cruise Lines, Fairline Shipping International Corporation, and Carnival Corporation by nine Northern Californians who were passengers of the Hawaii cruise.[60][61] The lawsuit alleged that the defendants did not screen passengers appropriately, did not disinfect the ship properly, and did not quarantine passengers until around 5 March 2020.[60][57] The lawsuit also alleged that the defendants did not inform passengers that coronavirus symptoms had been reported by passengers on the previous voyage, that passengers from the previous voyage who stayed aboard the ship for the Hawaii cruise had been exposed to the virus, and that a former passenger had died.[60][57] One of the plaintiffs was infected by the virus and hospitalized at an ICU.[60]
On 14 April 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Princess Cruise Lines by the widow of a retired Dallas firefighter who was a passenger that died of the virus.[34] The lawsuit alleged that Princess Cruise Lines did not warn the couple that an outbreak on board the ship had sickened passengers during its previous voyage.[34]
On 4 May 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Princess Cruise Lines and Carnival Corporation by the son of a retired Lehigh County steel worker who was a passenger that died of the virus.[62] The lawsuit alleged that passengers were not informed that passengers on the previous voyage had exhibited symptoms consistent with the virus and that there were crew members aboard that had been exposed to the virus.[62]