Ky. couple arrive home after month on a cruise ship with 12 cases of COVID-19 & 2 deaths
Former Eastern Kentucky University President Doug Whitlock and his wife, Joanne, arrived back home in Richmond Tuesday night after a month aboard a cruise ship that toward the end of its journey was plagued by COVID-19 and death.
The Coral Princess had 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus among passengers and crew members when it docked in Miami on Saturday, and the captain had told those aboard that two people had died.
By Monday evening, the Associated Press reported, 24 people who were critically ill had been evacuated from the ship and taken to hospitals for treatment, including a man who later died.
The Whitlocks had hoped to be off the ship by Sunday or Monday, but their journey was delayed further when the CDC announced new guidelines Saturday, saying that people who had been aboard cruise ships could not use commercial flights or public transportation.
Princess ultimately chartered a flight that took the Whitlocks to Louisville, where they picked up their car at the airport and drove home.
Doug Whitlock shared photos and updates about their journey on his Facebook page, including a photo taken from the Cessna Sovreign that brought them home, saying “Goodbye Florida.”
He said in a message later Tuesday night that the couple had arrived at their home in Kentucky. Whitlock said in an interview last weekend that they would quarantine themselves once they arrived.
The couple were among 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members on the ship.
They boarded in Chile on March 5, expecting to get off in Argentina on March 19.
Instead, government authorities there refused to allow anyone off the ship except those with Argentinian passports and those scheduled to fly out the same day, Whitlock said in an interview.
The ship then left Buenos Aires and after days at sea received permission to dock in Florida.
Passengers were confined to their rooms beginning March 31, after some people began exhibiting flu-like symptoms.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 9:16 AM.
