(CNN) – Hundreds of Americans that were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan have returned to the states. 14 of them have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Two converted 747 U.S. government planes evacuating more than 300 Americans from Japan.
Evacuee Karey Maniscalco from Utah said, “We are all in really close tight quarters, everybody is sitting next to each other. It seems dangerous and not safe.”
But the U.S. government said they are safe even though 14 passengers who tested positive for novel coronavirus were also allowed on the flight.
After arriving in Texas and California, those 14 were taken to Nebraska. One was transported to the hospital, 13 are quarantined at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Shelly Schwedhelm is the executive director of Emergency Management and Biopreparedness, University of Nebraska Medical Center. She said, “They are all going to be kept in their rooms, because we are isolating them until we know the testing results.”
The Americans all coming from the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that had been under quarantine in Japan for almost two weeks. And now, even the ones who did not test positive will have to do it all over again.
Maniscalco said, “They have sent over a dozen e-mails assuring us that there would not be an additional quarantine and they just told us that we’d be re-quarantine for 14 more days.”
Last week, the C.D.C. said there were 15 confirmed cases in the United States. That does not include the 14 passengers from Japan, as the C.D.C. says those “presumptive positive cases” are being retested.”
Maniscalco said, “I’ve just lost a whole month of my life.”
Globally, there are have been more than 71,000 confirmed cases. More than 1,700 have died.
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