TOKYO, Japan — A Pennsylvania couple is among the passengers onboard the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship quarantined in a Japanese harbor following more than 100 cases of the coronavirus.
Bill Smedley and his wife Colette are from Dillsburg, York County. They never thought a cruise to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary would end quite like this.
The couple is among the thousands of passengers now quarantined off the coast of Tokyo after several other passengers tested positive for the coronavirus.
All the passengers were given thermometers to keep track of their temperature. If a fever develops, they are to notify the crew to be tested.
In the meantime, all meals are being delivered to their cabin and there's virtually no contact with other passengers.
“It’s a stressful situation, but there’s nothing we an do about it. Just trying to stay relaxed is the best thing we can do at this point,” Bill Smedley told WGAL. “We’re stuck in the middle of a worldwide crisis.”
So far, the Smedleys have not shown any signs of the virus and they are anxious to get home.
They are told they will be in quarantine until Feb. 19.
“We’re pretty much in our cabin all the time until they give us the opportunity to go out on the deck. And then we go out on the deck in small groups, and we have masks on, and we weren’t wearing gloves, but now we sanitize our hands,” said Smedley.