Pence: 21 on cruise ship test positive for coronavirus

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Anthony Fauci, center, with Vice President Mike Pence and White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, speaks to reporters during a coronavirus briefing in the Brady press briefing room of the White House, Friday, March 6, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Vice President Mike Pence says 21 people on a cruise ship being held off San Francisco have tested positive for coronavirus.

He also urged older Americans to “use caution” in planning any cruise ship vacation.

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Speaking at the White House on Friday, Pence said the government is planning to bring the Grand Princess cruise ship into a “non-commercial port” where all the passengers and crew will be tested.

Those who need to be quarantined will be quarantined and those who need treatment will get treatment.

There are more than 3,500 people on the ship, counting passengers and crew.

Pence said 19 of those who tested positive were crew members and two were passengers.

“We would ask elderly Americans to use caution in planning a cruise vacation,” Pence said.