Coughing, Fainting, Breathing Problems: Stranded Cruise Ship Passengers Describe Chaotic Flight Home to U.S.

(ATLANTA) — On a chaotic flight home, some passengers who had been stranded for days aboard a cruise ship after being exposed to the coronavirus suffered breathing problems, many coughed and several fainted with no food or medical personnel provided, travelers said Friday “It was a suicide mission,” said passenger Jenny Harrell, of Fredericksburg, Virginia. “It was a mass triage with absolutely no direction and the crew going, ‘What should we do now?’” Decisions were left up to the passengers, said Harrell, who had some emergency medical training in the past and helped a physician who was also among the passengers. The jet carrying 359 people, including hundreds of American and Canadian passengers from a Costa Cruises ship flying home from France, landed at Atlanta’s international airport as emergency responders, and health and customs officials deployed to screen them for the coronavirus. Read more: The Grand Princess Has Docked in California. Here’s What to Know About the History of Quarantine on Ships Three people on the flight tested positive for the coronavirus before landing but had no symptoms, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Thirteen others were sick but hadn’t been tested, and one passenger was sent to a local hospital. Harrell, 51, said she isolated two other passengers who were having breathing problems. One had a chronic lung disea...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 News Desk wire Source Type: news