Canadian cruise ship passengers whose charter plane first landed in Trenton early Friday morning have arrived in Cornwall to begin a 14-day quarantine.
The plane, which landed just after 2 a.m. ET, was carrying passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise liner that was quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, since early February due to an outbreak of COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus.
All repatriated passengers on the chartered flight had tested negative for the virus, but were screened again in Trenton before boarding five buses destined for the NAV Centre in Cornwall to be quarantined, according to Health Canada officials.
According to a Facebook post by Bernadette Clement, the mayor of Cornwall, Ont., 131 passengers and seven crew members were on board the charter flight.
All five buses used to transport cruise ship passengers to the NAV Centre in Cornwall, Ont., will be disinfected on site before leaving, federal public health officials said. (Matthew Kupfer/CBC)
However, the office of Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne later confirmed that only 129 passengers were on board.
The majority of those passengers are over the age of 60, Clement said, but range in age from 20 to 80.
Including flight crew and medical personnel, there were 151 people on board, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The flight crew will also be quarantined, federal public health officials said, but the length of quarantine could be shortened depending on the level of risk.
WATCH: Here’s what the rooms at the NAV Centre look like
Trudy Clement, who was on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and arrived in Cornwall Friday morning for a 14-day quarantine, sent CBC News this video of her room at the NAV Centre. 0:20
Clement welcomed passengers in a statement shortly after buses began arriving in Cornwall, saying “our hearts are with you and we hope the quarantine period passes quickly and as comfortably as possible.”
“We know that you find yourselves in extraordinarily difficult circumstances and that it is impossible for us to imagine how we might feel if we were in your shoes,” she wrote. “But our hope is that you are relieved and uplifted to be on Canadian soil.”
Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medical officer of health with the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, said passengers in quarantine will undergo twice-daily medical checkups and will also have access to mental health support.
“These individuals have been cooped up in a cruise, many of them without windows,” he said. “So we are offering on-site mental health services.”
WATCH: Buses carrying cruise ship passengers arrive in Cornwall
The first of several buses carrying Canadians who were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, has arrived in Cornwall. 1:36
All passengers arriving in Canada tested negative for virus
Healthy Canadian passengers who choose to leave Japan by their own means will also face a mandatory 14-day quarantine period upon arrival in Canada, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Thursday.
On Friday, the Canadian Red Cross announced it was sending a team to Japan to offer support to the Canadians who are being treated there.
WATCH: Flight carrying cruise ship passengers arrives in Trenton
Canadian passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship landed at CFB Trenton shortly after 2 a.m. Friday. 2:06
As the quarantine in Cornwall gets underway, another group of people are due to be released Friday from separate quarantine in Trenton. Canadians evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the heart of the outbreak, were quarantined at Yukon Lodge after returning to Canada on Feb. 7.
Risk to general public is low, officials say
The NAV Centre is a hotel, conference and community centre. It has previously been used by the federal government as an emergency shelter.
Some Cornwall residents, including the mayor, were surprised and expressed concern about hosting the cruise ship passengers at a facility that’s open to the public and not typically used for medical purposes.
Canadian passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who did not test positive for COVID-19 arrived at CFB Trenton on Friday. (Lolita Wiesner/Facebook)
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.
The risk to the general public is extremely low, Roumeliotis said.
“The fact that these individuals are here does not increase that risk,” he said. “There are precautions in place to be able to confine these individuals and make sure they’re quarantined in a safe way.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
