Passengers begin to disembark from cruise ship carrying coronavirus patients in California

The cruise ship with nearly two dozen people infected with coronavirus on board that has been stuck for days off the coast of California began disembarking passengers on Monday.

By late afternoon, 23 people who needed acute medical care had been taken off the Grand Princess cruise ship docked in the Port of Oakland, said Shawn Boyd, a spokesman for the California Office of Emergency Services said.

The ship, carrying 3,500 people, had been idling about 10 miles off the Northern California coast before docking Monday. At least 21 people aboard — 19 crew members and two passengers — have been infected by the virus.

“Our intent is to basically disembark about half the passengers today. Everyone will be screened initially today,” said Robert Kadlec, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services Services.

The disembarkation process is expected to last at least through Tuesday.

American passengers will be flown or bused from the port to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia for testing and a 14-day quarantine.

California residents were expected to be bused as early as Monday night from the port to nearby Travis Air Force Base, Vice President Mike Pence, who is spearheading the federal response to the coronavirus crisis, said at a press conference.

International passengers from Canada and the UK will be taken directly to the tarmac on the base, where they will then catch chartered flights home. The ship is carrying people from 54 countries.

All passengers will be transported to their respective destinations “through very, very carefully controlled environments,” Pence said.

There were about 1,100 crew members on the ship, all of whom will be quarantined and treated aboard the vessel at a different port, according to California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

One bright spot, Pence said, was that all the children aboard the cruise ship are healthy.

“We were happy to learn through the screening over the last two days that the 25 children on the ship are all healthy,” he said.