A couple onboard the Grand Princess cruise ship filed a case due to its gross negligence in the handling of coronavirus

A couple from Florida who are onboard the Grand Princess cruise ship that currently docked in Oakland, California has filed a lawsuit against the operator of Princess Cruise Lines due to is gross negligence as the company allows its passengers to be exposed to the novel coronavirus on the cruise ship.

The couple, Ronal and Eva Weissberger from Broward County are seeking about $1 million in damages from the ship’s operator as indicated on the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court in Los Angeles. There are more than 3,500 passengers together with the crew members who are on board the said cruise line that was held off the coast of San Francisco for several days after 21 people, two passengers and 19 crew members tested positive for the novel coronavirus. According to the announcement from the ship’s captain, the passenger will be disembarking the vessel on Monday and the following morning respectively. The State Department already warned the Americans not to travel by cruise ship due to the spike in cases of the COVID-19.

The lawsuit accuses the cruise line company of sailing despite having the information that the ship was infected from two previous passengers who came down with symptoms of the novel coronavirus. In response to this lawsuit, Princess Cruises issued a statement saying that the company has been sensitive to the difficulties this novel coronavirus has caused to its passengers and crew. Their immediate response to the incident was focused mainly on the well-being of the majority as mandated by the government agencies and their developing medical understanding of this virus.

The Grand Princess cruise ship was able to pass beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and at least 21 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The couple together with the other passengers were able to board the ship without being examined or screened despite the ship had previously two people on board tested positive with the virus. Also, passengers were not able to receive any warning from the cruise line regarding the potential exposure before boarded or even while onboard. Those statements were indicated to the lawsuit being filed.

The couple said that they would not have boarded the ship if they had been told about it and would have disembarked in Honolulu. As per the lawsuit the couple is suffering from emotional distress and has been traumatized from the fear of developing the novel coronavirus.