Bill and Colleen Flanders (left) from Nipawin and their friends Wendy and Don Bomphray are under mandatory quarantine at CFB Trenton due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (submitted photo/Colleen Flanders)

By Teena Monteleone

Anchored In Trenton

Nipawin couple quarantined at CFB Trenton: ‘It’s been horrible.’

Mar 15, 2020 | 3:00 PM

Colleen and Bill Flanders were looking to escape the Saskatchewan cold with some friends. The Nipawin couple set off on a Grand Princess Cruise to Hawaii on Feb. 21 for what was supposed to be a 15-day cruise in the sun. Instead, they spent several days confined to their cabins after word spread that some crew members on the ship had tested positive for COVID-19.

“We were supposed to disembark in San Francisco but they wouldn’t let us dock because Trump didn’t want us there,” Colleen Flanders said. “He said that it might make the numbers [of COVID-19 cases] go up.”

The ship was forced to stay on the water for a few days and eventually ended up at a commercial dock in Oakland, CA. Flanders said as soon as they disembarked their temperatures were taken, they were loaded onto buses and then taken to an airport. They were then placed on a cargo plane to CFB Trenton, where they must remain in quarantine for two weeks as per requirements by the Canadian government.

“It was not in any way an airplane that people would go in. There were about 230 people or so on board and we were all packed in there like sardines – sick people and not sick people,” Flanders said. “You’re supposed to maintain a distance, well you can hardly maintain an inch between you and the guy next to you. It was very poor and something I’ll never forget.”

Flanders said the situation didn’t get much better when they arrived at Canada’s largest military Air Force base.

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“They sorted us out in a big hangar and then gave us rooms similar to a hotel room and they’re not bad. It has a TV, bed and fridge. They are delivering food to us but it is awful. I’m diabetic and I’ve been living on cookies and juice mainly. It’s been very difficult.”

Flanders said they get their temperatures checked twice a day. In addition to her diabetes, she also suffers from migraine headaches. She said she received insulin after several days but had not received the medication needed to control her migraines.

“Its really not right. I just don’t know how they can treat people like this.”

Major Trevor Reid from 8 Wing public affairs said the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is responsible for the quarantine area and has contracted security personnel to ensure safety and privacy of those under quarantine. Military personnel on base are responsible to maintain the outer perimeter of the quarantine area to ensure other military or visitors to the base don’t accidentally intrude in the area under quarantine.

The restrictions emphasize the need for social distancing. On Saturday, the country’s top doctor said two more people are under quarantine at CFB Trenton after testing positive for COVID-19. They’d been passengers on the Grand Princess cruise ship.

In a tweet, Dr. Theresa Tam said, “…the individuals are in isolation at the facility where appropriate infection control measures are in place. These individuals are having regular follow-ups and health assessments for #COVID-19.”

A total of four people currently quarantined at the military base have tested positive for the virus.

The Flanders’ will be required to stay in quarantine until March 24. In the meantime, they said they’ll pass the time by reading and watching TV. They are allowed outside a few times a day but only to walk around their building.

“There is nothing else to do,” she said. “They won’t even let us have books or puzzles because we can’t bring anything in that we didn’t already have with us.”

Still, she said, they’ll try to make the best of the situation.

“We haven’t had coffee since we left the ship – that even makes me crazy,” she said lightheartedly.

—

***Editors note: In a previous version of this article, it was suggested personnel guarding the quarantine area were armed. The article has been amended following clarification from 8 Wing public affairs.

teena.monteleone@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TeenaMonteleone