Grand Princess cruise ship finally leaves Port of Oakland

The Grand Princess pushes off from the Port of Oakland early Monday morning, March 16, 2020. The Grand Princess pushes off from the Port of Oakland early Monday morning, March 16, 2020. Photo: KTVU Photo: KTVU Image 1 of / 49 Caption Close Grand Princess cruise ship finally leaves Port of Oakland 1 / 49 Back to Gallery

For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

The Grand Princess cruise ship finally left the Port of Oakland after 8 a.m. this morning. The ship was originally supposed to leave Sunday night; it's unknown why the departure was delayed.

With a small crew, the ship that was struck by a COVID-19 outbreak is heading to a mooring point south of San Francisco Bay.

Since the Grand Princess arrived in Oakland carrying 21 people who tested positive last Monday, passengers and crew were removed from the ship and transferred to locations around the country, including Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, for a 14-day quarantine.

As of Saturday, more than 2,400 passengers and 50 crew had disembarked and remaining crew were transferred off the ship on Sunday, according to the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES).

"The individuals disembarking for charted flights Sunday will undergo the same robust health screenings as passengers from the Grand Princess," Cal OES said.

ALSO: Cruise ship passengers at Travis AFB talk about nightmare conditions

"Upon the ship’s departure, the Port of Oakland site will be fully remediated and decontaminated by immediately removing temporary structures and pressure washing the entire site with a bleach solution to disinfect it," Cal OES said in a statement.

Before docking in Oakland, Grand Princess was held off the coast for six days because of evidence that it was the breeding ground for more than 20 infections tied to a past voyage, a San Francisco-Mexico trip from Feb. 11-21. A passenger on that trip, a Placer County resident, died on March 4 due to complications with COVID-19.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.