Ben Carson, the secretary for Housing and Urban Development, said Sunday that plans were not “fully formulated” for handling the coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise when it docks in California.
“I don’t want to preview the plan right now,” Carson told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.”
When pressed on his answer, Carson claimed the evacuation operation is still being hashed out for the ship set to dock Monday in Oakland.
“I think it needs to all come from a solitary source,” Carson said. “We shouldn’t have 16 people saying what the plan is, particularly when it hasn’t been formally formulated.”
Carson’s comments come as the cruise announced that it will disembark the ship’s sick passengers from Oakland to medical facilities in California.
Map of coronavirus cases in the US
At least 21 people, including 19 crew members, tested positive for the virus on the cruise after it was linked to an outbreak in Northern California.
The Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday that some 3,500 other guests will be transferred to federal military facilities for a quarantine period.
Nearly 1,000 California residents will remain in state at either Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Naval Air Station, while passengers from other states will head to Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia.
“Throughout the quarantine, passengers will be monitored for symptoms of [coronavirus],” the agency said in a statement.
Meanwhile, US officials are working to arrange for travel home for foreign passengers.
“The Department of State is working closely with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange for repatriation to their countries,” the statement said.
The evacuation plans come as the bug has infected more than 100,00 people across the world, resulting in at least 3,500 deaths.
