Grand Princess cruise: Some residents worried as ship expected to dock in Oakland Monday

Sunday, March 8, 2020
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Disaster recovery equipment is now in place at the Port of Oakland as crews prepare for the arrival of the Grand Princess cruise ship.

The ship carries at least 21 people diagnosed with novel coronavirus and is expected to arrive Monday.
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Oakland resident Carolyn Hamilton says it's about time.

"They got families on there that need to get off the boat, praise God," she said.

But not everyone was happy about the charter buses waiting at the Port of Oakland. Many aren't comfortable knowing that several people with COVID-19 will be deboarding with so many others.



Some say they still don't understand why this is happening in Oakland, and not in San Francisco or elsewhere.
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"It was in San Francisco and they should be able to handle it there instead of shipping it somewhere else. They gonna do what they gonna do but if the problem started there they should be able to maintain it where it's at," says Apostle F. Hamilton.

RELATED: Everything to know about the Grand Princess cruise ship planned to dock in Oakland

Hamilton tells ABC7 News he works at the Port of Oakland and is hopeful everything goes as planned.

Charles Below is hopeful as well, but very concerned due to his own underlying health conditions.

"Don't want no health issues over here, we clean over here," says Below.
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His wife Lilly continued, "he's concerned about the germs and his health, he's a very sick man. He's got a lot of health issues and he's very concerned about that and been talking to me yesterday ever since he learned about it."



Now it's just a matter of time before emergency crews on land connect with passengers and crew members on the Grand Princess cruise ship.

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