SURPRISE

Grand Princess Cruise Passengers Found Out They Had Coronavirus From Pence Speech

“We were not given advance notice of this announcement by the U.S. federal government,” an audio announcement on the cruise ship reportedly said.

Vice President Mike Pence told reporters on Friday that 21 people tested positive for the coronavirus on the Grand Princess cruise ship docked off the California coast—but no one told the patients they had COVID-19 before the announcement. According to CNN, an audio broadcast was made on the ship shortly after Pence talked about the number of infected. “We apologize, but we were not given advance notice of this announcement by the U.S. federal government,” the announcement said. “The CDC is currently discussing the individual patient results with the ship's doctor, who will communicate the result to the patients ... [who] will be notified of their test results as quickly as possible.”

In his briefing to reporters, the Vice President said 19 of the ship’s infected were crew members and two were passengers. Of the 46 people swabbed, 24 people tested negative and one test was inconclusive.