Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2006. Mattie was almost four years old and was sitting next to a flower pot his preschool class created with their painted thumb prints. Peter and I won this flower pot at the school's auction. To this day, I still have the flower pot!
Quote of the day: The ground rules were clear. A day before 328 Americans were to be whisked away from a contaminated cruise ship in Japan, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo told passengers that no one infected with the coronavirus would be allowed to board charter flights to the United States. But as the evacuees began filing onto two reconfigured cargo planes early Monday for departures to military bases in California or Texas, some noticed tented areas separated from the rest of the cabin. ~ Motoko Rich and Edward Wong
This story about the Coronavirus on the Diamond Princess Ship troubles me deeply. Maybe because I have taken so many Princess cruises that I can only imagine the nightmare these passengers faced and the fear that they lived with while quarantined aboard the ship. Keep in mind, these passengers went on a two week cruise, then were quarantined for two weeks on the ship in Japan, and now will be quarantined another two weeks on a military base in the USA. That is six weeks and counting! Can you imagine being one of these passengers??? The panic they must feel wondering if they are going to get sick, wondering whether they would have to be hospitalized in a foreign country, and wondering if this happens, will they be separated from their loved ones?!
Honestly it is a nightmare. Today I had to go for my second root canal. I had one in October, one today, and a third next week. It's my lucky year. However, despite that pain in comparison to these passengers, I felt lucky! While waiting for the endodontist today, I read this fascinating NY Times article entitled, They Escaped an Infected Ship, but the Flight Home Was No Haven. I posted the link below.
The Times article is almost too hard to believe. As it reads more like a TV movie, but unfortunately what they are reporting is accurate. Outside of China, the Diamond Princess is the second largest location of people contracting the Coronavirus....... the count is at 454 passengers infected! When 328 US passengers boarded a cargo plane on Monday to return to the States, I don't think they knew the extent of the spread of this virus on their ship. Until they saw passengers on the plane quarantined behind plastic! These 14 American passengers were tested two or three days earlier for the virus, but the test results came back positive as they were heading to the airport in buses. Of course by that point, everyone on these buses could be infected.
But it gets worse. Imagine traveling with a loved one on this ship and this loved one is identified as having Coronavirus. Your loved one gets evacuated off ship to a local hospital, but you must remain aboard the ship. Better yet, when American citizens are cleared to come back to the States, you are advised to board the plane and leave your loved one behind in a hospital in Japan. The Times highlighted this scenario with a family on the Diamond Princess. This article has left me besides myself, because what would I do if faced with such a scenario? What these passengers are experiencing, could happen to me and my family. Since we frequently cruise. However, the thought of being quarantined or having to forcibly separate from my family never crossed my mind.
My thoughts go out to all the passengers and crew aboard the Diamond Princess and the one consolation is that one cruise passenger said when she arrived in California she was impressed with the number of specialists from across the country who were on hand to support the evacuees. She literally said she was "blown away," by the resources that greeted her back in the USA.
They Escaped an Infected Ship, but the Flight Home Was No Haven:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/world/asia/japan-cruise-ship-coronavirus.html?auth=linked-google
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