Shelby: Coronavirus-infected cruise ship passengers not coming to Alabama

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February 23, 2020

Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) appears to have delivered for his home state of Alabama once again.

In a tweet on Sunday afternoon, Shelby advised that he just spoke with President Donald Trump about the plan to potentially house passengers of a Diamond Princess cruise ship who tested positive for the coronavirus at a FEMA facility in Anniston, Alabama.

Per Alabama’s senior senator, the president has promised that these coronavirus patients will not be sent to the Yellowhammer State.

“I just got off the phone with the President. He told me that his administration will not be sending any victims of the Coronavirus from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to Anniston, Alabama. Thank you, [President Trump], for working with us to ensure the safety of all Alabamians,” Shelby tweeted.

I just got off the phone with the President. He told me that his administration will not be sending any victims of the Coronavirus from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to Anniston, Alabama. Thank you, @POTUS, for working with us to ensure the safety of all Alabamians.

— Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) February 23, 2020

UPDATE: 3:15 p.m.

Since Shelby’s announcement, Governor Kay Ivey and Congressman Mike Rogers (AL-03) have both tweeted that they have respectively spoken with the president over the phone on Sunday afternoon. In those phone calls, Trump reportedly affirmed that the patients will not be coming to Alabama.

.@realDonaldTrump called to assure me that this plan will not move forward. I thanked him for his support of AL! We always want to help our fellow Americans, but this wasn’t fully vetted. Thank you @SenShelby @RepMikeRogersAL for advocating on our behalf! #alpolitics #teamwork https://t.co/fzpaBmJOtW

— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) February 23, 2020

When @realDonaldTrump called me this afternoon with the great news that he cancelled the plan by HHS, I wholeheartedly thanked him on behalf of people of Alabama. Let’s all say THANK YOU to President Trump for his tremendous leadership!

— Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) February 23, 2020

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

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