Sisolak to bring Nevadans on cruise ship back for home quarantine

CARSON CITY — Gov. Steve Sisolak has written to Nevada passengers aboard a cruise ship quarantined in California for COVID-19 advising that they will soon be coming home.

Following on the governor’s letter, state health authorities on Tuesday issued an advisory detailing how 49 Nevada passengers on the ship would be returned. All of the Nevada contingent are so far asymptomatic for the illness, it said.

In a letter received by a passenger aboard the Grand Princess, which docked in Oakland on Monday, Sisolak indicated that Silver State residents on board will be brought to Nevada instead of being sent to military bases in Texas and Georgia for testing and a 14-day quarantine, as outlined under a plan presented Monday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The cruise ship, with 3,500 passengers and crew on board, docked Monday in Oakland with 21 people who had tested positive for the virus.

“I am extremely gratified to let you know that you are returning to Nevada and not going to a military base in another state due to your potential exposure to COVID-19 aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship,” Sisolak wrote. “My office has been working around the clock with federal agencies and state and local health authorities to coordinate your return home in the most efficient and safe manner.

“You will receive a call today from your local health authority to evaluate your home situation and ensure that you are prepared for the required isolation period. With your return home, Nevada’s state and local health authorities are prepared to support and safeguard you and your family, friends, and community in the most efficient manner possible to protect everyone involved from the potential spread of COVID-19.”

An advisory Tuesday from the state Department of Health and Human Services noted that federal authorities had initially said passengers would need to be sequestered at military bases around the country.

“After extensive review and with the consensus of local health authorities, the governor sent a letter last night to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary for preparedness and response confirming the state’s decision to bring Nevada’s residents home, under specific conditions meant to protect both the possibly exposed passengers and other Nevadans,” the advisory said.

The conditions for their release include:

— The passengers must be asymptomatic.

— The passengers must be tested before boarding a secure flight back to Nevada. Any passenger that refuses testing will remain under federal agency supervision.

— Passengers must return “in an isolated manner that limits exposure to the general public” and must be supervised by local health authorities for the rest of their 14-day isolation period.

The Nevadans will return home via secure air transportation provided by the federal government and “will not enter any buildings of any commercial airport in the state,” according to the state. Local health authorities “will arrange secure transportation from the airports to the passengers’ homes.”

In a briefing by the Washoe County Health District in Reno Tuesday, Health Officer Kevin Dick said flights would carry passengers to northern and southern Nevada. He declined to say how many would be coming to northern Nevada. Authorities have not been releasing specific information on people infected or exposed to the virus.

“When they get off the plane, we’ll do a screening and check for temperatures and that sort of stuff,” he said. We don’t have information yet about when the plane will arrive and where the exact location is going to be.”

Federal authorities “are responsible for determining the timing and specifics of your flight back to Nevada,” the governor added. “That is not within the state’s control, but we understand that information will be forthcoming to all of you directly.”

He concluded by acknowledging that that a “lack of information and misinformation has resulted in considerable anxiety and frustration.”

“Your congressional delegation, state and local health authorities, and I strongly share your frustration,” he said. “I can assure you that my frustration will be loudly and clearly expressed to leaders in Washington, D.C.”

This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.

Passenger letter by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Scribd

Contact Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @DentzerNews on Twitter.