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Britons stuck on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship off the coast of California told of their frustration today at being “imprisoned” in their cabins as UK officials worked to secure a flight to bring them home.
A total of 142 British passengers and crew are on board the Grand Princess. It has been held at sea since Thursday, with at least 21 people testing positive for the virus.
The ship was due to dock in Oakland today. Passengers will be screened by health officials and then transferred to military bases for a 14-day quarantine.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are working intensively with the US authorities on arrangements for a flight for British nationals.”
Denise and Leo McConkey said conditions on board were unbearable, with staff with masks and gloves leaving food outside the doors. Mrs McConkey said: “It is like a prison. They leave out food at the door — they knock on the door, leave the food on the floor and walk away.”
Mr McConkey added: “I actually left my cabin yesterday and they told me they were going to get the security to put me back in. They were going to lock me up if I did not go back to my cabin.”
Passenger Neil Hanlon, from Somerset, told BBC Breakfast that he and his wife Victoria were feeling “very suppressed, very tired, fed-up. Just want to get home. Food is very, very limited as well.” Mrs Hanlon said: “We just want to get back to Britain.”
American citizens will begin disembarking tomorrow, with international passengers not taken off for a possible further four days.
The ship had been on a return trip between San Francisco and Hawaii. It was stopped after a California man who travelled on it last month contracted coronavirus and died.
