2/29/2020
08:20
Breakfast is here! We crashed hard last night – it was a long day of interviews and blog editing. Not much happened throughout the base yesterday, although we now have one more confirmed case of covid-19. The individual was transferred to a designated medical facility. One individual who was positive in Japan has cleared their infection and is being discharged. Rachel and I continue to feel great, and are VERY excited to get on home! My workplace has me starting work in a week on 3/7/2020 to give me time to adjust – thankful for that! We have lots to do between seeing family, interviews, petting our dog, taking advantage of the gym, getting my key fob fixed to my car, and just in general getting used to life before heading to work. PS, I got paid!
We’ve got a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit, an apple, a hash brown, and a blueberry muffin.
Many are unable to early vote, but there is an option to have an absentee ballot by giving our name and address out. For privacy sake, we decided to go against this.
12:30
Food is here! BBQ steak, creamed spinach, with peach strudel. I forgot to take a picture, as we were hungry and watching Netflix.
13:00
Let the packing begin! It feels great to start packing for home. Last time we packed, it was to come to a 14 day quarantine. We are beyond excited to head home – the hours can’t go fast enough!
13:45
It’s been 7 whole days since Rachel and I have went outside. We decided that we really could use some sun. It’s sunny, 75F, with a SSE 18mph wind – feels great outside!
We made sure to dub our new Whataburger sunglasses.
Side note, we realized after eating our french fries today that we had some Whataburger spicy ketchup! If you like ketchup with your fries, but like a slight amount of heat.. This ketchup is for you!
We noticed that they have marked off the tent that was previously open to get supplies – a sign that we are all packing up and ready to leave! Some will stay behind due to extended quarantines.
16:00
We called in to our town hall! They mentioned that allergies are running rampant due to everything blooming. Flonase has helped us survive all of the mountain cedar!
They assured us that we’re all in this together, and that our time is almost over!
The survey on our last meal is in! We will be having brisket tomorrow night. Can’t wait for some Texas brisket!
100% of flights are now scheduled for our travel home. Rachel and I will be getting a rental car at the airport as of now. Logistics are being worked out.
There are a total of ten individuals from our group that are positive for the virus, one of which was diagnosed and identified yesterday through voluntary testing.
Our first individual from the group that was positive has now cleared their infection, and is now discharged after serial testing. This included two negative tests spaced within 24 hours.
President Trump held a press conference with many governmental officials this afternoon. It was based on providing updates on covid-19, and what the government is doing about it. We have now had the first recorded death from covid-19 in the state of Washington. We also saw a case in a healthcare worker for the first time in the US, as well as a community outbreak within a skilled nursing facility.
Community outbreaks are known as cases that have not traveled to known outbreak areas, and thus they are unsure how the person got sick.
There are 22 additional people hospitalized from covid-19.
The CDC has deployed a team to respond to covid-19 impacted individuals.
Our concerns are raised related to the community spread. High risk communities have preventative measures in place, but infection prevention measures must be followed as well. This includes hand washing, hand sanitizer, avoiding crowded areas, avoiding touching your face, and disinfecting metal surfaces. The biggest defense we have is to wash our hands with soap and water for at least 20-30 seconds.
One thing that is important to remember, overall the US has a low risk of exposure due to the fact that the virus has not spread across the country yet. There are travel restrictions in place, and many of them are enhanced as of now. For example, travel from Iran for foreign nationals are banned as of now. Level 4 travel restrictions are in place for places such as Italy. The US government is working with Italy and Korea to implement screening measures.
They emphasized that we should disclose any symptoms that we may be having.
The quarantine will still be lifted for the majority of us on 3/2/2020. Again, we are at little to no risk to the community once released post-quarantine.
The amount of people who entered the United States from a high risk area that came before the Diamond Princess was around 800 people. They were monitored in quarantine for 14 days. All of these individuals have been released, and no outbreak has been noted after their release into the community.
The case manager head made sure to mention that if we have a need for additional luggage to notify them now.
There are very few test results left to receive.
Q: I was wondering – did the individual who tested positive show symptoms?
A: No answer – they reiterated that we should let them know if they have symptoms.
Q: Will y’all purge information from the phones that we turn in?
A: You will receive instructions tomorrow on this, and will have people during the hand in process to help you take care of anything you need to take care of. They will erase everything.
Q: What fan cruises do to prevent future outbreaks like this?
A: For cruise ships, businesses, and really anyone preparing for community transmission – they should look at what sort of environment they work in, and put in place/review a plan on how to deal with covid-19. Remove people who are symptomatic, and continue to perform infection prevention measures such as washing your hands.
They wanted to clarify expectations on tomorrow and Monday. We will get a significant amount of papers that will outline the process of leaving. One paper will be over which groups are supporting us through this difficult time.
Dinner will be here shortly!
17:10
Dinner is here! It was pretty tasty!
Bacon wrapped pork loin, a baked potato with butter and sour cream, brussels sprout/squash medley, a salad, and a brownie covered in mashed strawberries.
We also found it so funny that the DMAT has utilized Whataburger bags to help carry supplies!
We will be interviewing with Fox and Friends again tomorrow at 05:30 central time!
17:40
Temperature checks complete! 98.1f for me, 97.7f for Rachel. Three more temperature checks before freedom!
23:50
Here’s the next day of our honeymoon, just posted!
https://www.thetorrestravels.com/2020/02/29/honeymoon-day-2-sumo-the-imperial-palace-and-boarding-the-diamond-princess/
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