'I had tears running down my face': Fredericton couple happy to be back in Canada
Despite having to deal with another quarantine, Fredericton's David and Patricia Strang say they are happy to be back on Canadian soil.
"When the plane landed in Trenton the people on the plane clapped and I had tears running down my face because I was so happy to be in Canada," Patricia Strang said Saturday when reached by phone.
The couple was among thousands of passengers stranded aboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan since Feb. 3 because of the Coronavirus COVID-19.
Over 600 passengers on the ship contracted the virus. Two people have died.
The Strangs arrived at CFB Trenton on a government chartered plane Friday at 8 a.m.
"We're supposed to be cruising the coast of Australia right now," said David Strang.
Instead, the couple, along about 129 other Canadian passengers, are at the NAV Canada Training Institute in Cornwall, Ont., a 2½-hour drive from Trenton, under another another 14-day quarantine and adjusting to another time zone.
"We've never felt sick through this whole period. No, we're fine. You're confined to what you can do and that kind of thing."
David said they are anxious to get back home, though. He said once they do get back to Fredericton they plan to stay put for a few weeks to enjoy some freedom and a normal life.
While under quarantine on the cruise ship, passengers were confined to their rooms. Staff would deliver meals.
David said they are permitted to go outside for walks at the training institute but they have to stay two metres away from other people.
"It's pretty much the same quarantine we had on the ship only we're on land now."
The couple even joked they haven't irritated each other despite spending so much time together.
Patricia said they travel together about 150 days per year so they are used to being together.
"This wasn't terrible or anything [because] when we go away for a long period of time it's just us."
While the couple expressed frustration at how some things have been handled, David said he knows governments in various countries were dealing with a situation that was changing daily and new things were being learned all the time.
"I think the cruise line was good to us overall."
'I was scared'
Patricia said she wished they would have been put under quarantine as soon as it was discovered that the first passenger had coronavirus.
"The whole time that we were quarantined I was scared. I mean I was really scared even though I kept that to myself most of the time."
Patricia said she was scared they'd get sick and end up in a Japanese hospital, where there might be a language barrier.
Then, when the crew on the cruise ship started getting sick, Strang became more worried. "The crews were the ones bringing us our trays of food, making our food and everything else."
She said it wasn't until the last two days of the quarantine that they started to get their food from an outside source.
While spending a month in quarantine is a first, the couple have had a few other close calls and adventures during their travels. There was Norovirus found on cruise ships they've been on but neither got infected.
On a trip in 2010 they had to spend an extra nine days in Prague after a volcano erupted in Iceland and disrupted air travel.
Patricia said being able to stay in touch with their family and friends through social media has helped immensely.
"There's been so many of my friends and David's friends that have been praying for us and I think it's been working."
The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China surpassed 76,000 Saturday, according to China's National Health Commission. More than 2,300 have died.
