The Daily Signal - One Man's 'Adventure' Quarantined on a Cruise Ship During COVID-19

Episode Date: June 1, 2020

Burt Quick, a retired California police chief, took a cruise with his wife last winter only to be quarantined on the ship for five days when other passengers got sick with COVID-19. Quick and his wife then spent two weeks quarantined at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia along with hundreds of other cruise ship passengers. Quick joins The Daily Signal Podcast to recount his experience. We also read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about what sports we may see return this summer and fall. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get the yes you've been waiting for at Capital One.ca.ca. slash yes. Terms and conditions apply. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, June 1st. I'm Robert Blue. And I'm Virginia Allen. On today's show, we talk with Bert Quick, a retired police chief from California who shares his harrowing journey of taking a cruise with his wife this past winter, only to be quarantined on the ship for several days due to passengers sick on board with COVID-19. Quick and his wife then spent two weeks quarantined at Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia. along with hundreds of other cruise ship passengers before finally being able to return home.

We also have your letters to the editor and a good news story for all of our sports fans out there about what sports we may see return this summer and fall. Before we get to today's show, we want to tell you about another great way to keep up with the news right now. That's right. The Morning Bell is a daily weekday newsletter that delivers the top news and commentary

directly to your inbox for free. Every morning, the Daily Signal will send you the latest news on COVID-19, analysis from heritage experts, and keep you up to date on the top news stories conservatives need to know. It's easy to sign up. Just visitdailysignal.com and click on the connect button in the top right corner of the page. We will start sending you the morning bell tomorrow. Now stay tuned for today's show. Coming up next. I am joined by Bert Quick, a retired police chief from California. Mr. Quick, thanks so much for being here. Thank you for having me.

Mr. Quick, you went on a cruise in March. It was a Grand Princess cruise ship, and you ended up getting quarantined on that ship due to COVID-19. So I want to hear the whole story, but let's begin at the very beginning. You know, in March, we were seeing that some cruise ships were undergoing quarantines and getting stuck out to sea because of COVID-19. But you and your wife made the choice that you still wanted to take the vacation, you wanted to go on the cruise. and you really had good reason for deciding to still make that choice to go. Can you explain why you all felt confident that, you know, we're going to go and we're going to be fine? Well, yes.

Actually, the cruise didn't start until February 21st. Okay. That was the first day of February 21st was the first day of the cruise. And approximately two to three weeks prior to that, we had received a letter from Princess Cruises. They called it an emergency alert. And on that, they indicated that if anyone had been to Wuhan, China, or had been associated with anybody in that area or from China, that they were not allowing them to board the ship.

And we had actually going back just a little bit, we had actually booked the cruise in December of 2019. And then after receiving, and we had discussed it once we started hearing that, that there was a COVID-19 issue. We started discussing the issue when I say we, my wife and I. And so we decided that after receiving this emergency alert, that we felt that Princess Cruises would be more focused and more determined to make sure that their passengers, as well as crew members, were going to be safe and well-tick. care of. So then we decided to go on the cruise. Right. And obviously things didn't quite work out the way you had planned. So how long after getting on the boat and setting sail, so to speak, did it come to light that someone on the ship

was sick? Well, actually what had happened was it was a 15-day cruise. And again, the cruise, the cruise began in San Francisco on the 21st of February, and the cruise would then sail to Hawaii and hit the different islands in Hawaii, and then returned back to San Francisco via Ensenada, Mexico. It took approximately five to six days to traverse from San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands. Once we arrived on the islands, as far as the cruise ship is concerned, my wife and I started noticing the people had begun to cough. And then we also noticed that some of the staff members began with what I would term a dry cough. and so we really didn't pay that much attention to it at the time. Although we did take precautions prior to leaving,

we had taken sanitizing wipes with us, so we sanitized the inside of our cabin, as well as gloves, to make sure that everything that we touched had been sanitized. approximately the third or fourth day in the Hawaiian Islands, we started noticing when we go to dinner because we dined in the restaurants and not in the buffet, that people that were normally filling tables, that the occupancy of those tables began to reduce itself. And so on the fifth day,

of the of cruising the Hawaiian Islands. I noticed that one of the staff members that would serve us our drinks and food, et cetera,

I was not there. So I asked the other attendant why this person wasn't there and then they told me that well he had gotten sick and he's in the hospital on board the ship.

And so we again were concerned but obviously we're on this cruise now and we just made sure that we took all the precautions that we needed to take and of course the one big thing that we did was pray each day we needed God's protection on everything we did and we needed the wisdom to know exactly what we should do to make sure that we were safe and taken care of and so we And so that's when we first started noticing that there was an issue with the dry coughs and in the absence of one of our servers.

Was there regular health checks at all being done on the ship? I mean, were temperatures being taken every day? Or were you all asked to, you know, go to a certain part of the ship if you did start feeling sick? Or what was the communication at that point between the cruise ship and the passengers? Well, actually, there was no temperatures that were taken at all. Actually, when I alluded to the emergency alert letter that Princess Cruises sent out prior to the cruise, they indicated on that that they were taking advanced health checks and our measures, and they would be making sure that the passengers were safe and secure.

When we arrived at the port to board the ship, The only thing health-wise that we saw was a one-page question-and-answer sheet that we filled out. And so it was left up to the passengers to make the decision whether they were going to tell the truth or not tell the truth. And once the sheet was filled out, then you were processed through the remainder of the staff in reference to your boarding and your cabin assignment and so on. and so forth. So yes, there was no temperatures that were taken. There were no, there was no information regarding to any health measures that we could take at that time. Wow. So then when did the ship start communicating that and saying, hey, it's official. We have people on board that have COVID-19 and now this is what we're going to do. Well, that was never stated. What was stated was,

once we had completed the cruise of the islands, we were then going to be sailing to Ensenada, Mexico. And as we left the islands and began directing our passage towards Ensenada, the captain did come on the air and advised us that they're going to be bypassing Ensenada and going to San Francisco. So that was the first indication that there was a real issue. And then we received a letter via the ship that we would be given a reimbursement of $300 due to the fact that we were not going to be going to Insanada, Mexico,

and that we were going directly to San Francisco. Okay. Okay. but you all didn't quite make it back to San Francisco. What happened? Well, as we progressed towards San Francisco, I would suspect because you don't know how far you're really out from shore and everything. But I was suspect that when we were approximately two or 300 miles offshore,

we awaited there. And now we are talking approximately the 13th, 14th day of the cruise. And how long was the cruise originally supposed to be? It was 15 days. Okay. And so about the 14th day, we were notified that San Francisco was not allowing us to dock at their port. And so we had to remain out in the Pacific.

And from what the captain stated us, we were approximately. 60 miles offshore. Once that occurred, we were notified, again, over the PA system, the ship's PA system, that the top portion of the ship was going, the passengers were asked to either stay in the cabins or be removed and down to a couple floor decks because they were having a Coast Guard helicopter flying in with medical supplies and testing kits.

And so when that did occur and that was done, then the following day, which would have been the 15th day, we were advised by the captain again because of logistics for the Coast Guard and the ship that the Coast Guard wanted us to come. come in closer to the shore. So we went in approximately 25 miles from shore. And then that's when they sent a Coast Guard cutter out. And they started transporting from the ship to the Coast Guard cutter patients that were ill. And so they began that process.

And once they had completed that process, then it was either the, and again, this has been a couple months ago now, but it was either the 15th or 16th day. That's when we finally got word that we were going to be going into Oakland and we were going to be docking at their port in Oakland, California. Okay. But after you all docked, you weren't able to go home yet. And you actually ended up being flown with a number of other pastors from that. cruise ship to a federal Air Force base, Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia, where you were quarantined for two weeks. So tell me a little bit about that experience. Okay, well, we were also quarantined on the ship. So on the 15th, 16th day, we were quarantined to our cabins and we could not

leave our cabins. This is on board the ship. And so all of our meals, were brought to our cabin, and as well as the fact that the ship now had issued masks to all the passengers. So basically the process was when someone would knock on the door, you would put your mask on, open the door, and you would see your food on a tray on the floor in the hallway. And so that process was done for breakfast, lunch and dinner while we were on board the ship. and so we were on board the ship until the 11th of March in quarantine process. Now, there was one day when we were allowed about 45 minutes to go out onto the lower deck.

We were on the eighth deck, and we were allowed to go on to the seventh deck, the lower deck, and walk around the ship for about 30 to 40 minutes. and there were limited people that were allowed to do that. And then on the 11th, that's when we were called and we were notified that we would be leaving the ship. And so my wife and I then went down to the area in which we were going to be disembarking and went through a process where we left the ship and went into a tenure. area where we were questioned by CDC and HHS personnel. And then from there, after they received our information,

they took our temperature. And then from there, we boarded buses. And then once the buses were full, we were transported via California Highway Patrol escort over to Oakland International Airport. where the buses drove onto the tarmac and towards federal planes, which we were subsequently boarding. So what was going through your head at that point? I mean, you've just been quarantined on the ship for five days and you're not getting to go home.

You're getting ready to step on to an airplane and go to Georgia to be quarantined. What are you and your wife saying to each other? What are you all thinking? Well, we originally came from San Diego, and the captain had notified us via again the PA system that the California residents would be going to either Travis Air Force Base or Miramar Marine Air Station in San Diego. Well, coming from San Diego, I was hoping that we would be able to do that because our family was in San Diego, And so we obviously knew San Diego very, very well as well as Miramar. And that non-California residents, U.S. residents, would be either going to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, or Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia.

And of course, you hear rumors, well, the more severe cases are going to be going to Marietta, Georgia, because of CDC headquarters, being. in Georgia. And so we figured, okay, that's probably, you know, where the more severe cases were going to be going. And so it was a surprise to us when we discovered that once we were aboard the plane and taking off that we were going to be going to Dobbins Air Force space, because my wife and I were never sick through this whole ordeal. And, And as it turned out, once we arrived at about 1230 in the morning at Dobbins Air Force Base, and by the way, they did an outstanding job, the CDC and HHS personnel, who came in from all over the United States to take care of the passengers that were on board this cruise ship.

and so they processed us. We finally got to our room around 3.3.30 in the morning, and, of course, showers and then went to bed. And so to say what was going on through our mind, it was just, our wife and I have always used the term that whatever thing we go on, we call it an adventure. We want to make it something positive versus negative. And whether you're driving down the road and you make a wrong turn, and my wife would say, oh, we're on an adventure.

You know, it would be one of those things. So it was always an adventure. So we took it in a positive way. We didn't want to stay negative because we knew negative thoughts. We're not going to be helpful. And we wanted to stay positive. And so it was always an adventure for us. Wow.

I love that. That's the right attitude to have. So during those 14 days that you spent there, you were on the Air Force base with several hundred other. passengers who had been on the cruise ship. What did you all do during those 14 days where you pretty much confined to your room? Or could you get out and talk with other passengers? What did that look like?

Well, we were, again, issued the masks that we had on board the ship. And so we, once we arrived, the next morning, They had a briefing, but they weren't prepared for the briefing because they held it outside with several hundred passengers. And we were in a contained area because it was fenced off, and we were in what they would turn the officer quarters. And basically, the quarters themselves would be like a studio apartment. Once you open the door, the bedroom was right there and so on and so forth. And the accommodations were nice. they definitely were nice.

But anyway, so we had this supposed meeting to advise us on what was going to be going on, and it just didn't work. They didn't have a PA system. They had a generator work running, and they were on one side of a chain link fence. We were on another, and it just didn't work. And so they finally started doing telecommunications where we would receive information. But in reference to our movement, again, the area we were in was spent stalled. And so we were limited, you know, on where we could walk and how far we could walk.

And we had access to leave our rooms and go out into the fresh air, which we did daily. And so, and we also conversed with the CDC. in HHS people. Now, in reference to the daily assignments, what would happen is that you would have a HHS person that would come and take our temperature in the morning and then also in the evening. All of our meals, and of course, when they would knock on the door like they did on the ship, we'd have to put our masks on, and then they would take our temperature. And then in addition to that, we also had all of our meals delivered to our room.

as well. And again, it was a knock on the door and you would put your mask on and open the door and then they would hand you your food and everything. And they did a great job. They were really diligent on what they did and we have the highest regards for them. Wow. And did any of those passengers who were quarantined there with you at Dobbins Air Force Base get sick or get diagnosed with COVID-19? Well, there were approximately a total of 480 passengers that were there. And they came in in different days because of the amount of people that were on board the ship and where they were going to be transported to and so on and so forth.

And so we had approximately from what we were told, we had approximately eight to 12 people at any given time during that 14-day process that were hospitalized. And then there were, and we received this information on the daily teleconferences that they had. And we discovered, or they advised us that there had been 12 and now it was reduced to nine and then it was reduced to eight. Now, in reference to the final outcome, we do not know how they fare. But out of the 480, there were approximately 12 that were reduced down to 8. So you can see that it was a very, very low percentage of personnel or passengers that were actually infected with COVID-19. And you had some interesting observations just about, you know, kind of best practices.

both, you know, while you were transported and sitting close to people on the plane and then during that quarantine on the Air Force base about, you know, just what was helpful regarding social distancing and hand washing. Could you share a little bit of that? Absolutely. We found, and again, this was aboard the ship, we found that the greatest thing that really contributed to health issues was the mental health. and when you're quarantined in a cabin that's approximately, you know, anywhere from 8 by 10 to 10 by 10, you started getting cabin fever. Even though you have access to hundreds of movies and television programs and things like that, you know, you need to get out into the fresh air.

And once you got out into the fresh air on that first, that one time when we were allowed to walk around the ship, you just felt a weight coming off your shoulders because it was like, oh, I can breathe and I can really draw in the great fresh air and everything. So when we were at Dobbins, we made sure that we were out every day, several times during the day, to get into the fresh air because mental health is the main thing that can destroy your physical health. And so we made sure that we did that. And again, prior to leaving, we had gone, I'm going to give an advertisement to Costco, that we had gone to Costco and had purchased a box of sanitizing wives. And you know Costco, everything's large there. And so we had a large pack of sanitizing wives.

So everywhere we went, either on the ship or at Dobbins, We always made sure everything was sanitized prior to doing anything that we did. And, of course, when we were on the Alps, you know, we were at Dobbins walking around. We wore masks. Social distancing was there, but, I mean, you're still walking around people. And quite honestly, there were CDC and HHS people. They were on one side of the chain link fence. You were on the other, and they're probably six to ten feet away from you.

Some of them didn't wear masks. although the passenger required to some of the CDC and HHS people didn't. But social distancing, you know, they, that was the turn that we heard initially aboard the ship. Okay.

And, you know, you can't social distance when you're on a bus. You can't social distance when you're on an airplane and you're sitting next to people. There were three seats in a row that you don't know. and so it made it difficult for social distancing. And again, we were on board the plane. We sanitized, you know, the things that we sat on and handled and the things of that and we wore gloves.

And, of course, the gloves can still carry the bacteria as well. And so we made sure that we would sanitize our gloves that we had on, which saved our skin a lot of times as well. And so those are the procedures that we did. And how did you all ultimately end up getting home when you were allowed to leave Dobbins? Well, Princess Cruz advised us that they had set up a hotline in which we could call and set up our reservations to return home. Now, prior to that, there were no tests that were given to any of the passengers because they didn't have tests. kids at that time.

But once they did get them, they did explain to us that they weren't 100% accurate and that you could test false positive or false negative. And so they didn't get the test kits until about the 10th or 11th day that we were there. And so, and they were limited on the test kits. And basically, you know, it was really for those folks who had the symptoms where we didn't have any of the symptoms. It was really for the folks who did. Yeah. And so I had spoken to my wife and I said, look, you know, these tests are not foolproof.

And if we, because they had advised us, if we were to take the test and it came out, positive, that we're going to have to spend an additional 14 days there. And so it was like, I don't think that's going to work for us. We don't have the symptoms. And the incubation period was a 14-day period, and we're going to be there for the 14 days anyway. So if the virus did manifest itself during that time period, obviously we would still be there. And it didn't.

And so we didn't call the hotline, Princess Cruz hot. line. We did set up our reservations with Delta. And then eventually we were transported down to Atlanta International, where we then flew out on Delta Airlines. And then that flew us to Salt Lake and then from Salt Lake to Spokane. That's our closest airport. And then from Spokane, Washington, we then drove home. Wow. Wow. Quite the journey. And certainly not what you and your wife, I'm sure, expected when you set out on your cruise in February. Do you think that maybe in a couple of years you would consider going on a cruise again? My wife wants to go on another adventure. That's great. Well, I guess if she's up for it, then that means you have to be.

Yeah, exactly. And so I think our next cruise, let me just say this one thing. I will never do an inside or an Ocean View cabin again. Because you never know when that ship's going to be going under quarantine. But if you have a balcony, which obviously costs more. But if you have a balcony, you can get out onto the balcony and get the fresh air. And a fresh air is the main thing that you want. That's why it's so disturbing to me to see all these beaches that are closed. That's the wrong.

To me, that's the wrong thing. Because people need the fresh air. They need to get out and breathe fresh air. for their mental health, for their physical health. And so I would definitely get a balcony or a sweet cabin from this point on. Well, Mr. Quick, we certainly wish you better fortune on your next vacation, but we're glad that you were able to look at it as an adventure and keep that positive attitude. We really appreciate your time today, and you just take it the time to tell your story.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. You have a great day. It's our priority at the Daily Signal to keep you informed during the coronavirus pandemic. Here's an important message from the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Taking care of your mental health is critically important as we stay indoors more often. It's important that people get enough sleep because we know sleep promotes mental health. It's important that you get exercise when you can while still engaging in proper social distancing. And most importantly, seek help if you need it. Telehealth services are available and call a friend if you just need someone to talk to.

Now more than ever, we want you to pay attention to your mental health. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday, we feature our favorites on this show and in the Daily Signal's Morning Bell email newsletter. Virginia, who's up first? Janine Nichols-Roberts wrote the Daily Signal a Memorial Day letter saying, Dear Daily Signal, we need to be prepared to fight for what is right and to honor those who have gone before. for us and Almighty God to preserve our constitutional way of life, not only in the economy, but in practicing the most profound principles to look out for one another.

We need to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity by looking out for each other's interests, human lives and liberty, not one or the other. And in response to Katrina Trinko's article, Twitter uses fact-checking as a weapon against Trump, One of our readers wrote in saying, Good article, balanced. What we need is civility, people agreeing to disagree and not wanting to force their opinions,

ideas, choices on others. If a business refuses to serve me, I look for one that does. If a book is not available at a bookstore, I visit another. If a restaurant's menu does not appeal to me, I patronize one that offers a menu that meets my preferences.

People just have to stop trying to force others into compliance and into following in a by by their rules, likes, and dislikes. Your letter can be featured on next week's show. So send us an email at Letters at dailysignal.com. Are you looking for quick conservative policy solutions to current issues? Sign up for Heritage's weekly newsletter, The Agenda.

In the Agenda, you will learn what issues Heritage Scholars on Capitol Hill are working on, what position conservatives are taking, and links to our in-depth research. The agenda also provides information on important events happening here at Heritage. you can watch online as well as media interviews from our experts. Sign up for the agenda on heritage.org today. Virginia, you know I'm a big sports fan and you have a good news story to share with us today on that topic. Over to you. Thanks, Rob. That's right. Well, today we're taking a quick look at this summer sports lineup. It's been a hard spring for sports fans with the cancellation

of March Madness and the postponement of Major League Baseball's start date. But things may be looking up. NASCAR is in full swing and just held the Coca-Cola 600 last week. And even though the stands are empty, the sport is drawing a lot of attention this year. Steve Phelps, president of NASCAR, joined Fox News last week to offer some updates on the season. When NASCAR opened for its first race of the season on May 17th at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, Phelps said over 12 million people watch the race on TV, three and a half million of whom had never watched a NASCAR race before. Six other races followed the first one,

and though no other races are scheduled just quite yet, NASCAR officials say they do plan to run a full 36 race NASCAR Cup series this year. And what about America's favorite pastime? Major League Baseball has tentative plans to kick off a shortened season during the first week of July. The proposed plan under consideration right now would be an 82 game regular season instead of the usual 162 games. And teams would only play teams that are in their division or near to them geographically. Soccer fans will be happy to hear that England's Premier League announced last week that they will begin playing again on June 17th.

There are nearly 100 games left to be played this year, and though fans won't be allowed in the stands, the matches will be tell us. And of course, we cannot forget college football. The Big 12, Pacific 12, and southeastern conferences have agreed to reopen their training facilities for voluntary workouts beginning in early June. CBS Sports reports that momentum has picked up for the 2020 college football season to start either on time or perhaps one week delayed. All right, so Rob, are there any sports that you're particularly hopeful will begin again this summer? Well, Virginia, you know that I'm a big baseball fan and my kids play Little League, so we're disappointed that they themselves can't partake in some of those youth sports. Swim was also canceled this summer. So it'll be quite a different experience for us than what we're normally accustomed to in these warm summer months.

But yeah, I'm really encouraged by the efforts that are going into all of the sports leagues, particularly rooting for my Pittsburgh Penguins to have a run at the Stanley Cup and seeing all my. other Pittsburgh sports teams perform well, even if we don't have fans in the seats. Yeah, I think we're all waiting with our fingers crossed, hoping we're going to continue to see some positive movement forward, and we'll be able to, if nothing else, at least watch those sports on TV this summer. That's so true. Well, we're going to leave it there for today. You can find the Daily Signal podcast on the Rikoschet Audio Network.

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