Roaming the halls of a ghost ship, the quarantined Diamond Princess was nearly empty Saturday when American Kent Frasure was allowed to disembark.
“I feel like the lost passenger at times,” Kent remarked. “There’s only about 200 of us remaining on the ship.”
After seven hours of waiting, Japanese health authorities finally processed his paperwork.
First he’s told he’s going to a new quarantine. Then, plans change—it’s a Tokyo hotel.
They gave him this letter saying he poses “no risk of infection” of novel coronavirus.
He stepped foot on dry land for the first time in weeks on a rainy, cold, windy Saturday night.
“The nightmare is over,” Kend said. “I really hope Rebecca gets out.”
Kent’s wife, Rebecca Frasure, tested positive for the virus more than two weeks ago. Follow-up tests have also come back positive. She’s under quarantine in a Tokyo hospital.
The next morning he’s on his way to visit, making a pit stop at the local “combini,” a Japanese convenience store, stocking up on Rebecca’s favorite snacks.
He’s allowed into the hospital to drop off his delivery. That’s as far as he can go. Rebecca’s room is sealed off. So, like Romeo and Juliet, he finds his way to her window.
Through the window, Rebecca told her husband, “I can see you!”
“Hopefully you get out soon!” he replied.
“I know. Me too.”
It’s the longest they’ve ever been apart. Rebecca hopes to join her husband in his Tokyo hotel before they both go home to Oregon. But first she must test negative, twice, each test 24 hours apart. Rebecca continues showing no symptoms of the virus.
Kent also tested negative twice earlier this month. He gives daily updates to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His temperature is 99.9 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly above normal.
After CNN finished shooting, Kent saw a news report. He was shaken. The Japanese government says 23 people disembarked from the cruise ship without being re-tested for the virus.
“I’m not one of those 23,” Kent said. “But I also wasn’t tested right before coming off the ship.”
He says his last throat swab for coronavirus was February 8th, more than two weeks ago. Two weeks of sitting in the cabin he shared with Rebecca. Kent was left second-guessing, wondering if he’s putting other people’s health at risk.
“I don’t have any symptoms,” he said. “Don’t have a fever. But neither does my wife.”
He contacted the CDC. He got an email telling him to keep taking the usual precautions: limit contact with others, cover his coughs and sneezes, regular hand washing, monitor his symptoms.
“So I just wonder how many folks out there are in the same situation as me,” Kent said. “Being as I wasn’t tested, but I was let go.” Let go and free to roam around Tokyo.
Reporter Will Ripley asked Kent, “What’s your impression overall of how the Japanese government has handled this?”
“Completely unprepared,” he replied.
Now he’s left to worry and wonder what’s next? When will this all be over? When will they finally go home?
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.