Thousands prepare to get off ship hit by virus in California

OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal and state officials in California were preparing Monday to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus. Personnel covered head to toe in protective gear were waking up passengers on the Grand Princess to check whether they were sick. Michele Smith, of Paradise, California, said a doctor knocked on her and her husband's cabin before dawn and asked if they had a fever or a cough. The couple who went on the cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary are healthy and, like the rest of the 2,400 passengers aboard, have been isolating in their cabins since Thursday. On land, fences were