Richland couple quarantined on cruise ship may be coming home to U.S. Quarantine to continue

A Richland couple quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan is expected to return to the United States on Sunday.

“This is beyond great news!” Amy Howe posted on social media Saturday. Her father and stepmother, Tim and Gail Howe of Richland, are quarantined on the Diamond Princess because of an outbreak on board of the novel coronavirus.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo sent a letter to U.S. passengers on Saturday saying that an aircraft had been chartered to bring the approximately 380 U.S. residents on the ship back to America.

“To fulfill our government’s responsibilities to U.S. citizens under our rules and practices, as well as to reduce the burden on the Japanese healthcare system, the U.S. government recommends, out of an abundance of caution, that U.S. citizens disembark and return to the United States for further monitoring,” the embassy said.

Tim and Gail Howe have been on the ship since they boarded for a four-week cruise in Singapore on Jan. 4, said Tim Howe’s daughter, Amy Howe, of Oklahoma.

They expected to end their cruise in Japan, but instead the 2,066 passengers and 1,045 crew members on board the ship were quarantined after the ship arrived Feb. 4 at a port near Tokyo. A passenger on the ship in January had been recently diagnosed with coronavirus.

Those evacuated from the ship will be quarantined for another two weeks in the United States, the embassy said.

Plane to land in California

“While a new quarantine isn’t great, at least we will have them back on U.S. soil and properly taken care of,” Amy Howe posted on Facebook.

She had been in contact with the couple several times a day, and fought to get her father, 72, a refill of his life-sustaining heart medicine.

Her ultimate goal has been to get them back to U.S. soil, she told the Herald shortly after his prescription refill was delivered a day and a half after he ran out of medicine.

The U.S. Embassy said that the aircraft evacuating passengers would land at Travis Air Force Base in California, with some likely remaining there under the 14-day quarantine, and other passengers flown to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, another one of the six total U.S. military base set up for quarantines.

“We understand this (quarantine) is frustrating and an adjustment, but these measures are consistent with the careful policies we have instituted to limit the potential spread of the disease,” the embassy said.

Passengers will be screened for symptoms before being allowed on the plane. The embassy will work with the Japanese government to get care for any passengers not allowed on the plane.

67 new cases on cruise ship

If any healthy U.S. passengers choose not to board the charter flight to the United States, they will be be unable to return to America for a period of time to be determined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the embassy warned.

The quarantine on the ship is set to lift Wednesday, but Amy Howe has questioned whether that will happen, given the number of people on the ship who continue to be diagnosed with the coronavirus.

The Associated Press reported that 285 people from the cruise ship have tested positive for the virus, including 67 new cases reported on Saturday.

Tim and Gail Howe are experienced travelers, usually taking one major cruise a year, said Amy Howe, who graduated from Richland High and now is an attorney in Oklahoma. Tim Howe is retired from Framatome, the nuclear fuel fabrication plant in Richland.

Passengers aboard the cruise ship have been urged to remain in their cabins, but told that if they do leave they should wear a mask and keep 6 feet away from any other person.

The Richland couple have been sticking to their room to limit their exposure, Amy Howe said.

They have an outdoor balcony, which gives them a view and fresh air, and meals are dropped off at their room.

“I’ll be so relieved to get them off the ship and back to the United States,” she told the Herald before the chartered plane flight was announced.

This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 12:56 PM.