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Passengers look on as a National Guard helicopter hovers above the Grand Princess cruise ship off the California coast, March 5, 2020, in a photo received from passenger Michele Smith.

Michele Smith via AP

Olga Rodriguez, breaking news staffer, San Francisco, kept AP ahead of the competition throughout coverage of the first U.S. cruise ship to be struck by the coronavirus, repeatedly scoring exclusive photos and video from passengers stuck aboard the ship. After learning about the ship, Rodriguez began scouring social media looking for passengers and stayed in touch with them for several days, some of them becoming citizen reporters on the ship, sending regular updates, photos and video to AP. https://bit.ly/2W7D9Y8
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