Sources: More evacuees coming to Lackland for coronavirus quarantine

San Antonio officials were informed Saturday night that an unknown number of passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship, where at least 21 people are infected with the new coronavirus, are headed to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland for quarantine, the San Antonio Express-News has learned.

According to a source close to the situation, city officials were told in a call with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department about plans to send asymptomatic passengers from the ship, which was held off the coast of California as federal officials grappled with what to do with the nearly 3,000 people aboard.

On ExpressNews.com: ‘There is something wrong’: Inside the release of the evacuees

It appeared that many of the evacuees could be Texans or live in surrounding states.

At least one former passenger of the Grand Princess, a California man, has died of the virus, health officials there have said.

The vessel is owned by Princess Cruises, the same company that operates the Diamond Princess, another cruise liner that became host to a large coronavirus cluster last month as it was docked in Japan. After being evacuated from the ship by the State Department, 144 of the Diamond Princess passengers were flown Feb. 17 for a two-week quarantine at a hotel on Lackland.

This is a developing story. Go to Express-News.com/coronavirus for more information and in-depth coverage of the crisis.