Sonoma County officials: No new coronavirus cases after 78 cruise ship passengers contacted

Sonoma County officials confirmed Sunday they’ve found no new cases of coronavirus after making contact with all 78 residents who were aboard a cruise ship that returned to the Bay Area from Mexico last month carrying at least two passengers infected with the virus.

The county is still awaiting test results for people who may have come into contact with those residents, who were passengers aboard the Princess Cruises ship.

The latest update comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement Sunday that a Princess cruise liner carrying thousands of people potentially exposed to the virus spreading across the globe will begin disembarkation Monday at the Port of Oakland. The ship, which was due back to San Francisco last Friday, has been parked about 10 miles offshore while federal authorities plotted a course forward.

Newsom confirmed that 21 people, including 19 crew members, have tested positive for the virus that causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19. Those in need of treatment will be taken to hospitals in the region, he said. It is unclear if any of those individuals could be brought to facilities with isolation rooms in Sonoma County because state officials had yet to reach out about their plan, said Barbie Robinson, Sonoma County Department of Health Services director.

Meanwhile, the more than 2,400 American passengers aboard the Grand Princess will be quarantined for 14 days at one of three U.S. military bases. Among them are 962 Californians who will be transported to Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, Newsom said.

Barney Cargile, 66, his wife Linda, 64, and their family remained on the ship and received the news Sunday, dashing hopes of a trip home for the seven Santa Rosa residents.

“This has been the toughest day. It’s not what we wanted to hear,” said Cargile, a semi-retired pastor at Santa Rosa Christian Church. “We’re just trying to get our minds to a good place, where we’re believing that God’s with us and it’s going to be OK. There’s questions we still have, like are we able to be together. Obviously we hope to be together, my wife and I. My daughter and son-in-law, with their three little kids, expect be together.

“We won’t know until we get there. We’re hoping, but we don’t know,” he added.

They boarded the Grand Princess on Feb. 21 in San Francisco for a round-trip voyage to Hawaii, and were set to return March 6 and step off the vessel the next morning, but have instead been stuck in limbo for several days.

Cargile, who also does part-time chaplain work at Santa Rosa-based nonprofit Crossing the Jordan, reported by phone Sunday night that neither he nor his wife, nor their daughter Tiffany Essig, 40, son-in-law Scott Essig, 52, and their three children, Olive, 8, Liam, 6, and Olin, 1, have shown symptoms or fallen ill. They hoped they would get to go home after exiting the ship once it was allowed to dock, but are now facing the reality of prolonged uncertainty at the military base in Solano County.

Despite tight quarters between two rooms located across the hall from one another, and with limited space for the kids to expend energy, the family has tried to stay positive and trust in their faith to get them through the rough patches. Some meditation each morning and a nap each afternoon, plus a little Go Fish for the grandchildren, have also gone a long way toward keeping the experience in perspective.

“Clearly there’s times that we get kind of discouraged about it all. But, again, we realize there’s nothing we can do about it, so we’re really trying to accept what is instead of fighting it,” Cargile said. “Given the circumstances, I think we’re all in a pretty good place. Now, if you talk to me another week or week and a half, I could feel differently. I don’t know what the facilities will be like, and hopefully we will have some windows. But it will be good to be off the ship and be in a different environment.”

More than 1,450 other passengers who are U.S. citizens will be flown to a military base in either Texas or Georgia for their own 14-day quarantines, Newsom said. Once the passengers are unloaded, which is expected to take two to three days, the cruise ship will depart Oakland, where crew members who have tested negative or exhibited no signs of the virus will complete their quarantine aboard the ship. Plans for crew quarantine are still being determined, according to a late Sunday news release from Princess Cruises.

Back in Sonoma County, local public officials have received testing kits and are working to get hotlines up and running for individuals who have questions or concerns they may have been exposed to the virus. Those 24/7 phone lines should be available Monday, said a county spokeswoman.

The county reported no new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in their testing, with more results due early this week from additional specimens currently under review. None of the three people being treated at county hospitals - two from the cruise to Mexico, and one who was transported from Travis Air Force Base for treatment after a separate cruise aboard the Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan, has died, though. Dr. Sunadri Mase, the prospective interim Sonoma County public health officer, declined to detail their conditions, citing HIPAA, the patient privacy law.

“We can talk about aggregate numbers, but not individual patients,” Mase said. “There’s so few cases that they’re easily identifiable.”

In the meantime, while the hotlines are brought online, residents who have questions or feel ill are encouraged to dial 211 or call their primary health care physician.

Staff Writer Tyler Silvy contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336 or kevin.fixler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kfixler.