Four Australians stuck on new coronavirus cruise ship Grand Princess

Four Australians are in lockdown on a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of California amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak.

The Grand Princess cruise ship passes the Golden Gate Bridge. Picture: AP

Four Australians are in lockdown on a cruise ship being quarantined off the coast of California amid fears of an outbreak of the coronavirus on board the vessel.

The Grand Princess was making a round trip from San Francisco to Hawaii when 11 passengers and 10 crew developed symptoms of the deadly pathogen, according to the governor of California, Gavin Newsom.

We have been notified by the CDC that they are investigating a small cluster of COVID-19 cases in Northern California,...

Posted by Princess Cruises on Wednesday, 4 March 2020

At least 62 passengers as well as a number of crew members have been placed in isolation in their cabins as they are tested for infection — and all 3533 people onboard have been warned they will not be able to disembark until the situation has been fully assessed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was aware of the four Australians on board the Grand Princess cruise ship in a statement.

“The Australian Consulate General in San Francisco stands ready to offer consular assistance, in accordance with the Consular Services Charter, to any Australian citizen aboard the vessel, should they request it,” a spokeswoman said.

The news comes after “small cluster” of coronavirus cases were identified in passengers who had just completed the ‘Grand Princess Mexican Voyage’ that was on a roundtrip from San Francisco on February 11 to 21.

Princess Cruises confirmed that a 71-year-old male guest who had sailed on the previous trip to Mexico has died.

“All of us at Princess Cruises offer our sincerest and heartfelt condolences to the family and all who are impacted by this loss,” Princess Cruises said in a statement.

It is understood 62 guests onboard the ship had been on the same voyage as the man who died and might have come into contact with him.

In a statement Princess Cruises said they had identified a small group of guests and crew who needed be tested infection — and that the US Centre for Disease Control would be flying coronavirus tests to the ship by helicopter before returning with the results to laboratories in California for analysis.

“There are fewer than 100 guests and crew identified for testing, including all in-transit guests (guests who sailed the previous Mexico voyage and remained on-board for the current Hawaii voyage), those guests and crew who have experienced influenza-like illness symptoms on this voyage, and guests currently under care for respiratory illness,” the statement said.

“Public health officials have advised that no guests will be permitted to disembark until all results have been received.”

The liner departed San Francisco for Hawaii on February 21, with 21 symptomatic passengers and crew only showing signs of infection on the return leg to the United States.

The ship had been scheduled to dock at San Francisco on Wednesday night but was instructed to moor off the coast until the situation was fully assessed.

The Grand Princess is operated by the same company that runs the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined off Yokohama, Japan last month.

More than 700 people were infected by the virus during its two-week quarantine, including Perth man James Kwan, who became the first Australian to die of the disease at the weekend.