WEBVTT - A Cruise Ship Comes to Florida

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, April two. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus update. Florida Governor Rhonda Santis has officially declared a

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<v Speaker 1>thirty day stay at home order for the state, after

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<v Speaker 1>facing criticism for not doing so earlier. The other issue

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<v Speaker 1>facing Florida is what to do with sick people on

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<v Speaker 1>the Zandam cruise ship that wants to dock and port Everglades.

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<v Speaker 1>The scientists only wants to take state residents that are

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<v Speaker 1>on the ship, and the Coast Guard has said that

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<v Speaker 1>the ships must stay out at sea with a sick

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<v Speaker 1>on board. A plan is still being worked out for

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<v Speaker 1>what to do, even as another sick cruise ship also

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<v Speaker 1>plans to make its way there. Samantha Gross, reporter at

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<v Speaker 1>the Miami Herald, joins us for more. Thanks for joining us, Samantha,

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to talk about these cruise ships that are

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<v Speaker 1>on their way to South Florida there. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>zen Dam and the Rotterdam cruise ships from Holland America.

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<v Speaker 1>One ship, the Rotterdam, has a healthy passengers and the

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<v Speaker 1>zend M has people that have been reporting flu like symptoms.

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<v Speaker 1>I think there have been four debts on that ship

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<v Speaker 1>to that they said had COVID nineteen. And these ships

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<v Speaker 1>have been turned away from port all over the world

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<v Speaker 1>right now, and they're heading to Florida, and there hasn't

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<v Speaker 1>been a deal cut yet with whether they're gonna they're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna allow them to dock there and to get anybody

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<v Speaker 1>off the ship there. Semantha tell us the latest. What

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<v Speaker 1>do we know what's going on here? Yeah, so both

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<v Speaker 1>ships are traveling at around twenty one knots, which could

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<v Speaker 1>put them um near South Florida by about one am

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<v Speaker 1>tomorrow morning. Um, they're kind of rounding Cuba this morning,

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<v Speaker 1>so they're headed towards South Florida. But there still isn't

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<v Speaker 1>a concrete plan as to what's going to happen to them. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>they're about twelve passengers on board both ships, and you

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<v Speaker 1>know at least nine aboard are sick, and so they're

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<v Speaker 1>they're trying to make some plans for them, but there

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't been anything finalized yet, which is a cost for

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<v Speaker 1>concern for a lot of people. As we've seen with

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<v Speaker 1>other cruise ships, most notably the one that docked in

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<v Speaker 1>Japan when they had a bunch of people that were

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<v Speaker 1>sick with coronavirus. It becomes this kind of breeding ground

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<v Speaker 1>for it. So the longer that they stay on this ship,

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<v Speaker 1>the possibility increases that they might come down with this.

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<v Speaker 1>Governor RHN De Santis has said that he'd be willing

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<v Speaker 1>to take residents from Florida off of the ship first,

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<v Speaker 1>but they really don't want anybody to come onto shore

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<v Speaker 1>because they just feel it's gonna overwhelm the health system there.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right, and there is a cost for concern there.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean Broward County, where Port Everglades is is a

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<v Speaker 1>hot spot of COVID nineteen cases in Florida. South Florida

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<v Speaker 1>has more than half of the cases statewide, and so

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<v Speaker 1>people are definitely worried about draining resources here considering, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the hospital system is already starting to see

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<v Speaker 1>kind of an influx in patients. Um, they want to

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<v Speaker 1>preserve the health care system, but of course there are

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<v Speaker 1>so many people who are going to need how and

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<v Speaker 1>so I think they're trying to arrange a plan for

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<v Speaker 1>getting those people home to where they can get care. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I have this question. I'm sure everybody's asking it in

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<v Speaker 1>their heads. Why are people even on these cruise ships?

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<v Speaker 1>Why are they sailing? I mean, we saw what was

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<v Speaker 1>happening with the very first ships in Japan and it

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<v Speaker 1>was a mess there, So why would people put themselves

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<v Speaker 1>in these situations? Again, I know that these ships are

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<v Speaker 1>both coming from South America, right right, So the crews

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<v Speaker 1>were you know, from South America and they left on

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<v Speaker 1>March eighth, and so that was kind of before the

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<v Speaker 1>state had kind of taken this more seriously. Before there

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<v Speaker 1>were a lot of more warnings about trouble and fight

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<v Speaker 1>cancelations and things like that, and so a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>the people who were on this ship's thought that things

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<v Speaker 1>were okay when they were boarding, but obviously in the

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<v Speaker 1>last month things have taken quite a dive. So, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know a lot of these people have been on

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<v Speaker 1>these ships for a really long time, and that's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>part of why it is troublesome that they've you know,

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<v Speaker 1>they're getting sick and they're in this kind of confined space.

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<v Speaker 1>But the cruise, you know, was supposed to end in

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<v Speaker 1>Chile on March. It was of March eight cruise. So

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<v Speaker 1>what I've been seeing also is that the people that

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<v Speaker 1>were sick were on the Zendam cruise ship, so they

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<v Speaker 1>dispatched the Rotterdam to take healthy passengers off. Is that

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<v Speaker 1>ship still not being allowed to talk also, even though

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<v Speaker 1>they're saying that people are healthy on that ship. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>both ships are kind of in flux right now. Both

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<v Speaker 1>ships are headed towards Port Everglades, and it's it's unclear,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, what they're going to do. Um. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>people who were in exhibiting symptoms on the Zandam were

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<v Speaker 1>taken onto the sister ship, the Rotterdam. But that doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily mean that all those people aren't carrying the virus.

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<v Speaker 1>You know. I think there's a lot of concern of

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<v Speaker 1>asymptomatic people who have been in contact with folks who

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<v Speaker 1>were showing symptoms. So they're taking precaution for both ships,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're saying that they're are some people that are

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<v Speaker 1>seriously ill. The ships do have doctors and nurses and

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<v Speaker 1>some medical facilities they're on board. That's correct. Yeah, there

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<v Speaker 1>are infirmaries on board. Um. Someone I talked to you yesterday,

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<v Speaker 1>her dad has been given antibiotic pills to kind of

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<v Speaker 1>help him. He's really sick. He has pneumonia. UM. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, obviously people who are sick are getting as

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<v Speaker 1>much help as they can, but it's not the same

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<v Speaker 1>as being in a on land hospital where you have

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<v Speaker 1>access to IV medication and you know, just more resources,

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<v Speaker 1>more bads available. Yeah. I think the people that you're

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<v Speaker 1>referring to also, they're stuck in a room that has

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<v Speaker 1>no windows, so they're quarantined in there, and they've been there.

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<v Speaker 1>I think they've had like a fever for ten days

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<v Speaker 1>or something they reported. Those are some tough situations to

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<v Speaker 1>be in right there. And we're also hearing that this

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<v Speaker 1>is not the only two ships that are headed there.

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<v Speaker 1>There's also another Princess Cruises it's called the Coral Princess

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<v Speaker 1>is on its way also probably won't get there until

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<v Speaker 1>maybe about Saturday or so, but they're also looking to

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<v Speaker 1>hopefully dock there in that area. Right um, I think

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<v Speaker 1>you know, with those ships, they're hoping that there will

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<v Speaker 1>be a plan in place by the time that they come. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, there have been plans that have been floated

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<v Speaker 1>past the Broward County Commission on how to handle these passengers,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's my understanding that whatever plan they end up

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<v Speaker 1>putting into place would apply to any other incoming ships

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<v Speaker 1>that would need to dock at Portific place. I'm over

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<v Speaker 1>here in California, and a couple of weeks ago, I guess,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a cruise ship that came down and they

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<v Speaker 1>had this very orderly fashion and took a few days,

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<v Speaker 1>obviously because there were so many people, but they took

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<v Speaker 1>people out. They sent those that need to go to

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<v Speaker 1>hospitals to hospitals, and then everybody else kind of got

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<v Speaker 1>shipped back home. Basically, they flew them back to their

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<v Speaker 1>own places. Does it seem that this is what's going

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<v Speaker 1>to happen here? And really Florida has no other choice,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, where else do these people go? But kind

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<v Speaker 1>of being stuck out at sea if nobody else wants them,

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<v Speaker 1>which is kind of the case it's been already, right.

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<v Speaker 1>So the plans I was floated that we're ultimately rejected

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<v Speaker 1>by the Broward County Commission included chartered flights that we're

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<v Speaker 1>going to be paid for by Carnival to send people

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<v Speaker 1>all over the world. You know, there's quite a few

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<v Speaker 1>you know, foreign nationals that are on the ship. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>and so they had chartered flights that were supposed to

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<v Speaker 1>go all over the world. I assume that whatever plan

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<v Speaker 1>they do get in place would include some similar travel plans.

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<v Speaker 1>Um it also allowed for people in Florida to be

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<v Speaker 1>returned to their cars or to rent a car via

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<v Speaker 1>you know, kind of secured ground transportation that Carnival would provide.

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<v Speaker 1>Samantha Gross, reporter at the Miami Herald, thank you very

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<v Speaker 1>much for joining us. Thanks. I'm Oscar Ramiers and this

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<v Speaker 1>has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't forget that. For

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<v Speaker 1>today's big news stories, you can check me out on

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<v Speaker 1>the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday. So follow

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<v Speaker 1>us on I Heart Radio or wherever you get your

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts