Couple in quarantine after cruise

Two Windsor residents who were on-board a cruise ship where more than a dozen people tested positive for COVID -19 are now under quarantine at a Canadian Armed Forces base in Ontario.

As reported by CTV News, Urbain Vanier, 63, and his wife Julia are among the 228 Canadians, reportedly without symptoms, repatriated Tuesday and under a 14-day isolation period at CFB Trenton. A government-charted flight from the California-docked ship to Trenton landed early in the morning.

The Grand Princess cruise ship carrying 3,500 passengers and crew docked Monday at the Port of Oakland after idling off the coast of northern California for days

The ship carried 237 Canadians when it docked Monday. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-philippe Champagne reportedly told journalists in Ottawa Monday some Canadian members of the ship’s crew tested positive for the virus and remain on-board in accordance with state and CDC protocol.

Some Canadian passengers stayed behind in California for medical reasons unrelated to the virus, Champagne said. Those individuals are being treated by the California health system.

Hundreds of Canadians flown out of COVID-19 epicentre Wuhan, China, in February also spent two weeks under quarantine at CFB Trenton.

On Tuesday, Air Canada suspended flights to and from Italy. Italy has gone into lockdown and imposed strict travel restrictions in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. As of Tuesday, Canada had 86 confirmed cases of COVID -19. One person in Canada with the virus has died.