‘We were better off on the boat’: B.C. couple awaiting release from quarantine worried about safety

CFB Trenton, Ontario (NEWS 1130) — A B.C. couple quarantined at CFB Trenton say they’re worried about contracting COVID-19 at the base.

Wray McClelland and his wife are among those who were sent to the base from the Grand Princess cruise ship which experienced an outbreak of the virus.

With 8 people in quarantine at the military base now confirmed with the virus, McClelland says he’s worried staff there may be inadvertently spreading the virus.

“They just came from a room beside us, the people could be infected, and they come into our room and they’re wiping down with their right hand, but their left hand is touching all this stuff,” said McClelland. “I’d rather just have them leave us the Lysol wipes, and we wipe our room down ourselves.”

McClelland says he felt safer on the COVID-infected cruise ship.

“The only thing we couldn’t control on the ship was the food that was coming in,” said McClelland  “The trays were left on the doors outside.  We had no contact with anyone.  We’d disinfect everything.  We kept our own silverware, and we washed it ourselves.  So other than the cooked food, we had a completely sealed environment, and we felt we were much safer there,” he added.

“Princess has offered us our flights home, but we have to pay for them,” said McClelland.  “And then we submit an expense with Princess online, but that’s if they remain solvent,” worries McClelland.

McClelland, a Kamloops, B.C. resident, says he’s been told he and his wife will be released from quarantine on March 24th but says they’re going to have to find their own way home.