TORONTO -- A Canadian couple aboard the Diamond Princess ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, said the experience of being under quarantine has not ruined their love of cruises.
Global Affairs Canada announced late Saturday night that the government had chartered a plane to repatriate Canadian passengers from the quarantined ship, but has not given an exact date.
The Diamond Princess has the largest concentration of cases of COVD-19 outside of China, with the Japanese Health Ministry announcing Monday that 99 more people are infected, bringing the total to 454.
The ship has about 3,700 passengers and crew and 15 of the infected passengers are Canadian. Those showing symptoms of COVID-19 during pre-flight screening will not be allowed to board with the rest of the evacuees back to Canada and will instead receive treatment in Japan, according to the Global Affairs statement.
Edmonton couple Jenny and Mark Rodrigue, who are among those quarantined on Diamond Princess said in an interview with 麻豆影视 Channel Monday that getting the news of 99 more cases of COVID-19 on the ship was 鈥渟hocking.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 obvious now, there had been debate over whether we were being confined and protected properly, and it looks like we weren鈥檛,鈥� Rodrigue said, adding that passengers allegedly did not receive the proper masks for days.
鈥淣ow you have all these experts saying we should never have been confined in a ship in the first place, well maybe the experts should have told us that and we could have been back in Canada,鈥� he continued.
However, the couple is sympathetic to the Japanese health authorities, who Jenny Rodrigue said are 鈥減laying it day-by-day.鈥�
鈥淚t is what it is,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e just have to accept it and move forward. It would be nice to be in our own country even though there is another 14-day quarantine period.鈥�
鈥淚 have all the confidence that the Japanese health authorities are as good as any in the rest of the world,鈥� continued Mark. 鈥淓verybody is still struggling with how to deal with these things.鈥�
The couple stressed that the experience had not dampened their love of going on cruises, and instead expressed excitement over the prospect of seeing friends and family upon their return.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to be relieved when they see us on the plane鈥� but we want to make sure we aren鈥檛 carrying anything before we see friends and family,鈥� Mark said.
