If coronavirus hits a cruise ship from Miami, county ready to quarantine passengers

PortMiami will allow a cruise ship to return with coronavirus aboard and plans to convert a dockside warehouse into a triage center to isolate passengers if that scenario occurs, county officials said Tuesday.

“We’re with the cruise lines in the good times,” Mayor Carlos Gimenez said during an emergency meeting of the County Commission on the coronavirus threat. “And we’re going to be with them in the bad times.”

Gimenez, who oversees the county port, said cruise CEOs asked him for advance permission to dock if a Miami-based ship has crew or passengers with suspected or confirmed coronavirus diagnoses.

Port director Juan Kuryla said the port is finalizing plans that would allow it to convert an existing warehouse into a medical facility with room for 200 people. He said Miami-Dade is working with a company tapped by cruise lines to operate “a processing facility to disembark those passengers that need some kind of isolation or treatment.” The company, Global Rescue out of New Hampshire, did not respond to a request for comment.

Gimenez did not raise the issue of arrangements for a ship’s crew if a ship docked at PortMiami with coronavirus cases. It’s also not clear where the thousands of passengers aboard would be taken if they did not need medical care but required isolation for days. Kuryla said federal authorities would take over if large numbers of passengers had to be housed.

Gimenez said one condition he imposed on the cruise companies was that passengers from outside Miami-Dade be sent back to their home communities as quickly as possible, while the county would agree to accommodate local passengers leaving the ship.

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“Residents of Miami-Dade County, we’ll take them,” said Gimenez, who is flying to Washington Wednesday to attend a White House meeting on the coronavirus and the cruise industry. “Everybody else needs to go back.”

Advance permission for a vessel to return to Miami with the coronavirus aboard may let a Miami ship avoid the kind of exile experienced by a ship held off San Francisco for days last week after passengers and crew tested positive for the virus. The Grand Princess was allowed to dock in Oakland Monday and began unloading passengers, with most sent to military bases for quarantine.

The PortMiami preparations capture the increasingly urgent planning under way in county government for a coronavirus crisis.

The mayor said he’s more concerned now that “they do have community spread in Broward,” referring to three Port Everglades workers who contracted coronavirus with no known ties to foreign travel. Broward has four known coronavirus cases, while Miami-Dade has not yet had one declared by state health authorities.

Gimenez said he’s considering asking elderly residents with health issues to stay away from senior centers and have meals delivered at home until the coronavirus threat passes. Miami-Dade is also summoning organizers of large outdoor events to review safety practices for the coronavirus.

Gimenez said he sees outdoor events as easier to protect. He did not share details on what he plans for indoor events, but the distinction comes as other governments are calling on empty stands for games and other drastic reductions of crowd sizes.

Lester Sola, Miami-Dade’s aviation director, said Miami International Airport sees future bookings down about 10 percent for now. “It’s too soon to tell what the lingering long-term impact will be,” he said.

Coronavirus and MIA and airport sales

Major tenants at MIA are already asking for rent breaks, with one operator citing a 20 percent slump in sales. “I believe this is only the beginning,” said Peter Amaro, CEO of Master ConcessionAir, which operates a string of shops and restaurants at MIA, including Starbucks and Taco Bell.

If Miami-Dade does offer concessions, Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava said the county should insist some of the savings fund paid sick leave for workers at the shops and restaurants. “We should make sure some of that goes toward the workforce,” said Levine Cava, a 2020 candidate for mayor.

The meeting’s tensest moment followed one commissioner complaining about excessive worry over the coronavirus, noting the flu has claimed far more lives in the United States.

“I’m glad we’re not even considering at this point canceling any large events,” said Commissioner Joe Martinez. “There is danger and there is prevention, and there is preparation. But fear over something that may never come is the one that can paralyze us.”

Commissioner Jean Monestime later complained about minimizing the coronavirus threat. “We don’t want anyone to panic, but I believe this is serious,” said Monestime, also a candidate to succeed a term-limited Gimenez in 2020. “But I’m hearing a different message from political leadership, that we don’t have to worry about anything. ... I think using cautious optimism is probably better.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 7:32 PM.