One of two Santa Clarita residents, who evacuated the Diamond Princess cruise ship after being quarantined in Japan since early February, has tested positive with the coronavirus, they said Monday.
Jeri Serrati-Goldman, who co-owns KHTS Radio with her husband Carl Goldman, said during a Facebook live stream Monday night that her husband “tested positive but has already broken his fever and is doing better. I do not have the virus.”
The couple evacuated the Diamond Princess cruise ship over the weekend and arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where Carl was being treated at the hospital and Jeri was placed in an isolation unit attached to the medical center.
They are expected to continue isolation in Nebraska for an additional 14 days after being quarantined in Japan since early February, they said Monday.
“I’m not able to leave this room at all. I do have a treadmill, but this is it for 14 days. No going outside, no nothing. Even though I have a cough, still no temperature,” Jeri said in her Facebook video.
On Saturday, a friend of the Santa Clarita couple aboard the ship was confirmed to have COVID-19. She is a former resident of the Santa Clarita Valley and was taken from the cruise ship to receive treatment in Japan.
“I do have the coronavirus,” said Jerri Larson Jorgensen in a Facebook video. “As far as my CTC scan, blood work and chest x-ray, everything is really good.”
The Goldmans are among 10 Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers who arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center to continue their isolation, according to U.S. State Department officials.
Their departure from the Japanese port city of Yokohama comes after 400 Americans aboard the ship received an email on Saturday from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo discussing plans to evacuate and fly them back to the U.S. Whether passengers agreed to return home or remain in Japan, each would have to remain in isolation another 14 days.
With another 70 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the tally reached 356 total infections on board the ship, according to Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato in a statement Sunday.
Additional updates on the Santa Clarita couple would be posted on their social media, Jeri said Monday.