PORTLAND, Ore. — A Forest Grove couple is now back home after getting stuck in Japan because of the coronavirus. It took nearly a month, but they were finally cleared to come home Tuesday.
When Kent and Rebecca Frasure left for vacation, they never expected to be gone so long.
“Oh pretty extraordinary and a whirlwind and just, I don't know, still can't believe that it all happened to us,” Rebecca Frasure explained.
On February 7, Rebecca was moved from a Diamond Princess Cruise Ship in Japan to a Tokyo hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19. Rebecca only had mild cold symptoms but was under quarantine in the hospital for 28 days.
“One of my big takeaways is definitely that you just can't take your freedoms for granted,” Rebecca Frasure said. “As I was sitting there in those first days in the hospital, I was like oh my gosh, all I want is to be outside and take a walk and I can't do that, you just take all the mundane everyday things for granted.”
Kent never got the virus but had to stay on the ship for 17 days alone.
“It was still pretty tough, the isolation after a while really gets to you,” Kent Frasure explained.
Rebecca had to test negative for the virus twice before she could be released from the hospital. The second test came back negative on March 4. She was released from the hospital on March 5.
She and Kent then had to wait in Japan another five days before they could be cleared to fly home. The two just got back Tuesday afternoon.
When asked how it feels to finally be home, Rebecca responded, “It was so great, it was a long journey yesterday we were up for about 25, 26 hours by the end of it and it was just so good to be home and it was honestly, just good to land in the states.”
The two are still waiting to go back to work.
“I have a couple of days probably before I have to go back to work, still talking with the boss about that,” Rebecca Frasure said. “Kent will be home for a couple of weeks.”
“Yeah, I work for Intel and they have a company-wide policy, anybody that's traveled into areas that there are large amounts of coronavirus, they're asking us to stay home for two weeks,” Kent Frasure explained.
The two said they would still go on another cruise in the future. They said Diamond Princess refunded their trip and gave them credits for a future trip.
For now, though, they are just happy to be home and are ready to get back to normal.
In Oregon, the risk of contracting COVID-19 remains low, according to officials. At KGW, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: kgw.com/FactsNotFear