TOKYO, Japan — Forest Grove man Kent Frasure has finally been allowed to leave the Diamond Princess cruise ship after being quarantined for three weeks over coronavirus exposure – but he won’t leave Tokyo without his wife, Rebecca.
She is still hospitalized in Tokyo because she tested positive for the virus. She can’t leave until she tests negative.
Kent checked into a Tokyo hotel. He'll be cleared to fly after 14 days.
“So right now my name's on a no-fly list so I can't go back home,” he said.
Kent plans to stay near her until she is released, even though they are not allowed to be in the same room right now.
“I did see Rebecca yesterday but only through a window outside her room in a parking lot," he said.
Kent went to a 7-11 and got some snacks for Rebecca.
“It was really nice the other day even to just see her through a window. She was on the second floor and it was kind of just a wave up to her.”
Princess Cruises is paying for his hotel room, he said. The United States will not allow any Diamond Princess passengers or crew back into the country for at least 14 days.
Rebecca, from her hospital room, called the ordeal a "vacation turned into nightmare."
She said she has no symptoms and feels fine.
She hopes samples taken Sunday come back negative. She needs two negative tests before she'll be released.
"I'm all by my lonesome," she said. "It definitely is starting to feel like a jail cell. I have not left my hospital room in 17 days. There's a window in my door. I can peek out down the hall but that is it. I can't even open my window."
Rebecca works in customer service for a health insurance company in Portland. Kent works at Intel, which is being great, he said.
"We are going to make sure we are healthy when we come home so that we're not bringing this back to the community," Rebecca said.
Kent said he already has their first day home planned out.
“I think we're going to go for some Pizza Schmizza! There's one in Forest Grove. Just having some good food, just relaxing for a while, go back and see our cats.”
KGW's Katherine Cook contributed to this story.
