Island couple aboard Diamond Princess lands at CFB Trenton
The pair will be screened again before heading to Cornwall, Ont.
A P.E.I. couple stranded on the Diamond Princess cruise liner has landed at CFB Trenton in Ontario.
Helen McKenna and her husband John are among the 256 Canadians who were being quarantined on the cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, since early February due to an outbreak of the coronavirus.
The plane, which landed just after 2 a.m. ET, was carrying passengers from the cruise liner.
Of the Diamond Princess's roughly 3,700 passengers and crew, more than 600 have contracted COVID-19, including 47 out of the 256 Canadians on board.
The Canadians who contracted the illness did not board the flight.
In McKenna's most recent Facebook post on Friday morning, she said the couple was waiting to go through a health screening.
The passengers who landed at CFB Trenton will be screened for the virus again before heading to the Nav Centre in Cornwall, Ont., where they will be quarantined again for 14 days as a precaution.
The Nav Centre is a hotel, conference and community centre. It has previously been used by the federal government as an emergency shelter.
Representatives from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which is handling the operation, said no one under quarantine will be in contact with the general public.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) said the section of the Nav Centre that will be used is isolated and has its own ventilation system separate from the rest of the complex.
Health officials said in a press conference Monday that the risk to the general public is low.