Former Eastern Kentucky University chief, wife stuck on ship with cases of COVID-19
A former Eastern Kentucky University president is among hundreds of passengers stuck on a cruise ship that has cases of COVID-19.
Doug Whitlock, who retired in 2013 after six years as EKU’s president and more than 40 years working for the university, boarded the Coral Princess with his wife, Joanne, on March 5 in Chile. They were scheduled to get off the ship March 19 in Argentina and eventually fly home.
This week, the couple was still on the ship and sailing to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., uncertain what would happen on arrival Saturday. Since Tuesday, the two have been sequestered in their room.
Late Wednesday night, the captain of the Coral Princess announced that passenger and crew member test results sent ashore came back positive for COVID-19, Whitlock said. Video with the captain’s remarks was posted online. The number of positive tests was not revealed, he said.
Nevertheless, Whitlock was hopeful Wednesday night that the Coral Princess passengers would be allowed to leave the ship when it arrives in Fort Lauderdale.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis agreed Thursday morning that Floridians aboard another ship, Holland America’s Zaandam, would be allowed ashore. Other passengers not needing medical attention were to be transported directly to an airport for travel home — all arranged and provided by Carnival Corp. The Zaandam has been hit hard by COVID-19 with multiple sick and four dead, at least two of whom died of the new coronavirus.
Whitlock and his wife haven’t been home since March 1, and no one on the Coral Princess has been on dry land since March 13, he said.
The Whitlocks had been having “a picture-perfect cruise,” but when they arrived in Buenos Aires on March 19, events turned. The couple was supposed to disembark there and fly to Kentucky a few days later. But the Argentinian government would not allow anyone off the ship other than people with Argentinian passports or with flights scheduled for that day, Whitlock said.
According to an announcement from the cruise line, the ship quickly left Buenos Aires after learning that it would be forced to quarantine at the dock for an “indeterminate” number of days if it stayed.
Tuesday, the cruise line announced that an unusually high number of people on the Coral Princess were reporting flu-like symptoms. Before the announcement, passengers had been allowed the run of the ship, with food and entertainment still offered, Whitlock said.
After Tuesday’s announcement, passengers were told to self-isolate in their rooms and all meals were delivered by room service, Whitlock said. Crew members were also were confined to their rooms when not working.
Because some people were able to disembark in Argentina, other passengers with interior rooms were moved to rooms with balconies before having to isolate, Whitlock said. All passengers were given free internet and phone service to help them stay in contact with their families, according to cruise line.
Also on Tuesday, the ship stopped in Barbados for supplies; a passenger and their significant other got off the ship to get medical attention, Whitlock said. The passengers were not told why the departing passenger needed medical attention.
As of Wednesday, the conditions on the ship were “quite tolerable,” but there remained a lot of uncertainty, Whitlock said.
The best-case scenario: The ship would arrive at port in Fort Lauderdale, and Princess Cruises, which operates the Coral Princess, would arrange to fly the passengers to their homes Saturday or Sunday, Whitlock said.
But there are a number of less desirable possible outcomes.
Whitlock acknowledged the passengers could be quarantined in Florida after disembarking the Coral Princess, or worse, they won’t be allowed to get off the ship.
The Coral Princess also could be required to quarantine on the ship, or the ship could be sent to another port, Whitlock said.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 7:42 AM.
