US: Passengers sue cruise line over coronavirus

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - A U.S. couple aboard the ship that docked in California Monday with 21 confirmed coronavirus patients is suing the ship's owner, saying the company "put passengers in danger."

The Florida couple, Ronald and Eva Weissberger, are demanding over $1 million in damages, according to a complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court, Bloomberg reported.

They have accused Carnival Corp. of continuing the voyage despite knowing that passengers on a previous sailing of the same ship had shown COVID-19 symptoms.

The Grand Princess docked in Oakland, California, on Monday so its more than 3,500 passengers could disembark, be screened, and taken to quarantine or medical sites.

The ship has been linked to 12 coronavirus cases from an earlier voyage to Mexico.

Offloading the passengers will take up to two days. Residents of California will be transferred to Travis Air Force Base or the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for two weeks of isolated medical care.

Those living in other states, meanwhile, will be quarantined at bases in Texas and Georgia, according to the Health and Human Services Department.

Foreign passengers, on the other hand, will be sent home.

The Princess Cruise Lines also operate Diamond Princess, the ship which was quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, as more than 700 people tested positive for the virus.

The death toll from the outbreak in the U.S. has climbed to 22, while more than 500 people have been diagnosed with the infection.

Oregon, California and New York states have declared a state of emergency to combat the epidemic.

Meanwhile, five members of Congress decided to go through a self-quarantine after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for the virus.

First detected in Wuhan, China last December, the disease has spread to over 100 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The global death toll is past 4,000 with more than 113,000 confirmed cases.

As part of their efforts to contain the outbreak, governments have closed borders and suspended land and air travel with affected countries, including China, South Korea and Iran.

Italy, the worst-hit country after the Chinese mainland, has extended its emergency measures, which include travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings, to the entire country.

In a press briefing yesterday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom said that since the virus has a foothold "in so many countries, the threat of pandemic has become very real."