Thousands of people were confined to a cruise ship circling in international waters when it was forbidden from docking in San Francisco, but the Grand Princess arrived at the Port of Oakland on Monday, and with passengers who had exposure to the coronavirus virus onboard, extreme measures were taken to ensure there was no risk to public health during the transfer off the ship.

The cruise ship had been idling off the coast with at least 21 infected people aboard. Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the port of Oakland, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,000 passengers aboard the Grand Princess to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine.

More than 3,500 people on the ship hail from 54 countries, including 237 Canadians. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the US public that no one would be exposed to the Grand Princess passengers.

CANADIANS

Global Affairs Canada announced late Sunday that it had chartered a plane to fly the stranded Canadians to the air force base in Trenton, though it did not provide a timeline for when that would happen.

Passengers will be screened for symptoms before they board the plane, and those who exhibit them will stay in the US for further assessment. Passengers without any symptoms will be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival in Canada, the government said.

“We are working hard to help Canadians return home and make sure appropriate measures are in place to prevent and limit the spread of COVID-19,” Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a written statement.

“The decision to repatriate Canadians on board the Grand Princess follows a request for assistance from the government of the United States, recognizing the importance of closely working together to limit the spread of COVID-19.”

REGAL PRINCESS IN FLORIDA

Late Sunday in Florida, passengers disembarked from the Regal Princess after it received clearance to dock. Two crew members eyed as possible carriers had negative tests for the virus.

The Regal Princess was originally to have docked Sunday morning in Port Everglades but instead spent most of the day sailing up and down the coast. The Coast Guard delivered testing kits to the Regal Princess and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a “no-sail order” for the ship.

The Caribbean Princess cruise ship, meanwhile, cut short a Fort Lauderdale-Mexico cruise because crew members had been on another ship where people were infected.

The crew members in question had transferred more than two weeks ago from the Grand Princess cruise ship in California where nearly two dozen on board have tested positive for the virus, including 19 crew members, according to Princess Cruises.

The cruise line said in a statement earlier Sunday that the crew members of the Regal Princess shouldn’t pose a risk to anyone on board because they did not exhibit respiratory symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and were well beyond the advised 14-day virus incubation period.

A Princess Cruises statement issued early Monday said the CDC issued the clearance after the test results came back negative.

After the ship docked, passengers stood on their balconies as they waited to disembark, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported from scene. The first passengers were let off about an hour after the ship pulled into port.

It is unclear how many people are on board the Regal Princess, but the cruise line’s website said it has a capacity of 3,560 guests.

The vessel’s next cruise scheduled to leave Port Everglades for a seven-day Caribbean trip Sunday was also canceled. The cruise line said guests would receive a full refund and offered $300 reimbursement for one night’s hotel costs.