Canadians arrive home to start 14-day isolation

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) – A plane carrying 176 passengers arrived Friday at Canadian Forces Base Trenton where they will spend 14 days in isolation to ensure they are not infected with the coronavirus.

Another plane carrying about 50 Canadians landed in Vancouver Friday morning.

The passengers on both aircraft were evacuees from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The second plane was a U.S. aircraft that agreed to let Canadians join Americans for the flight out of Wuhan. The Canadians then boarded a plane for the trip to the Trenton air base.

At the Trenton military base, medical personnel were ready when the 176 passengers, including 34 minors, stepped off the plane wearing blue surgical masks and into the cold and light snowfall.

They will spend isolation in the 290-room Yukon Lodge, the equivalent to a three-to four-star hotel that usually hosts visiting contractors and military personnel.

The children were to receive teddy bears and coloring books to help pass the time as they wait out the 14-day incubation period to prove them free from the coronavirus.

All the other essentials – food, toilet and laundry supplies – will be provided and the rooms have high speed internet, TVs, microwaves and refrigerators.

Still, 14 days in a single room will take a toll on the visitors.

“It will be very stressful for them,” said federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu.

While there was room for 211 passengers on the Canadian plane, only 176 boarded. Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said there were some no-shows, as expected.

The remaining Canadians will be evacuated by airplane on Feb. 10.

As of Friday, there were 636 deaths and 31,161 confirmed coronavirus cases in China.