'We do a lot of crying': American couple in quarantine for coronavirus separated in Japan, US

It seemed like the dream retirement vacation: Six months around Asia and Australia, including a stint on Princess Cruises' luxurious Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Then, on Feb. 3, John, 63, and Melanie Haering, 58, from Tooele, Utah, were readying for bed when they learned the ship would be quarantined for the night. The confinement was extended as people started to come down with coronavirus. Facing a 14-day quarantine that saw hundreds get sick, their vacation of a lifetime turned into a nightmare.

Making matters worse, the two had been separated since Feb. 13, when John became ill, was taken off the ship in Yokohama, Japan, and transported to Chiba University Hospital, where he tested positive for coronavirus. He is one of more than 700 passengers who contracted the virus during the ship's quarantine, which some officials have said failed.

On Feb. 16, Melanie left Japan on an American charter flight with more than 300 other Diamond Princess evacuees. Since then, she's been in quarantine at Travis Air Force Base in California.

It's the longest they've spent apart in their eight years of marriage, Melanie told USA TODAY, with a literal ocean separating them.

"We do a lot of crying," John told USA TODAY. Melanie seconded his sentiment: "I have tears in my eyes now."

Three days before John was taken off the ship, the night of Feb. 10, Melanie alerted the crew that he was displaying symptoms of coronavirus, as all passengers on the Diamond Princess had been instructed to do. Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties; if the virus worsens, it can develop into pneumonia, kidney failure, severe acute respiratory syndrome or lead to death.

But she said no one responded immediately, and he went untested until after he was taken off the ship.

"Honestly, it was really backwards; I called and he had a fever of 104 degrees," she said. "The person said to me, 'We'll put him on the list.' "

They had to follow up to get someone to come the next day, John said, and they learned that Princess Cruises was removing 60 other ill passengers from the ship.

The doctors who visited their room didn't speak English and didn't do anything to help. They asked what his temperature was and left. "That’s when I told Melanie, 'We are in this alone.' "

"So those doctors came in knowing he was ill, did not take his temperature, did not swab him and didn’t test me," Melanie continued. "We kept asking, 'Are you going to swab us?' And he goes, 'No no no.' "

Another set of doctors came in hours later, by which time John had developed a rash. Yet he was left in their cabin for another two days as his temperature fluctuated before they came back.

"They came and got me out of my room," he said, noting that he was given 15 minutes to collect his belongings. "When they got to the room, I was able to give (Melanie) a hug and a kiss, and I couldn’t even look back," he recalled.

It might seem odd, he understands, that he kissed his wife goodbye when he was ill – but they hadn't been separated at all, even when it was clear that he was sick.

"I didn’t think anything of it because we kiss all the time and obviously had in our room, so it didn’t even cross either of our minds that maybe we shouldn’t," he said. "We had been in quarantine for 10 days in a small room, in the same bed, through the worst fever I have ever had, and Melanie was right there, putting wet, cold towels on me for days. It didn’t seem like it would do any harm to kiss her goodbye."

Weeks later, things are starting to look up. John has tested negative for coronavirus twice, and on Thursday, he left the hospital to stay at a hotel for the night. Monday, he had been home for two days and was planning to head to the airport to pick Melanie up since her quarantine at Travis Air Force Base in California had been completed.

Getting home, John said, was fairly seamless. He took a flight back to Portland, then another to Salt Lake City. The only hiccup he had was when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer noticed he had been on the Diamond Princess. After being pulled aside and questioned, John showed a note from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said he was free to travel. It only took 15 minutes, he said.

"As far as the government, I’m in the clear," John said. "Melanie will be the same way, but we're imposing a 30-day quarantine on ourselves."

His doctor in Japan told him that while a patient may show no signs, the virus may still live on in their body.

They are worried that they could get others, including their elderly parents, sick. So they'll hole up in their house, have groceries delivered and plan their next vacation over the next month.

Coronavirus: Your guide to travel warnings, flights, cruises, hotels

In quarantine in a Japanese hospital

Aware that it might be a while before he saw his wife again, John called to let Melanie know where he was a few hours after his arrival at the hospital.

Communication was initially difficult due to the lack of an internet connection, but they purchased a hotspot, which costs $10 per day, to remedy that problem.

He liked his doctor there; he communicated with all the staff through a translator.

"I think he knows what he is doing," John said during his quarantine. "But I've talked to him in total – out of 10 days – maybe 15 minutes total."

While in isolation, John didn't receive much care. There were no pills to take, no vitamins, no procedures. Once a day, his vitals were taken. They hoped his body would fight off the virus.

"They absolutely don’t know how to handle it," he said. "And I don’t think they're incompetent by any means."

He developed pneumonia, but by the time he left his Japan quarantine, 50% of the pneumonia cleared up, according to scans. Earlier in the week he also had a rash and diarrhea.

But the recovery was more than physical.

"Mentally, it’s a little tougher; I’m isolated," John said while he was quarantined. "I feel like a pariah a little bit because anyone that comes in my room for any reason is completely masked, gloves, tape."

Food arrived in boxes through his door. Everything that left his room was placed into a container. He had to do his laundry in the shower.

Meals came regularly, though he said he wasn't provided with enough food. John is 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 250 pounds – or did.

"I told them I needed more food – they said I am being fed the same amount that the person who weighs 100 pounds across the hall is being fed," he explained. "I am losing weight."

He also wasn't provided with water, just a cup of tea with each meal. Instead, he had to buy his own. He asked a nurse to buy him some from the convenience store downstairs. He estimates he's spent about $20 on water since he's been there.

"It’s not like that at all the other hospitals," Melanie said. John explained that he had a friend at a hospital in Tokyo whose nurses brought him food and dropped it off in his room. He was also allowed to order food for delivery, they said.

John said he would have loved to be taken back to the United States for treatment.

"I feel that nobody wants me there because of the disease that I contracted," he said. "And I wholeheartedly understand that, but if they put me in a care facility that I’m not around other people at … the virus doesn’t jump a mile."

Inside U.S. quarantine

Meanwhile, Melanie was at Travis Air Force Base in California. She waited anxiously for several days to receive her own coronavirus test results.

She learned her tests were negative last week. She is one of the passengers who evacuated the quarantined ship on an American charter flight Feb. 16, which required an additional 14-day quarantine.

"I’m basically in the lap of luxury in comparison to where he’s at," Melanie said during her U.S.-based quarantine.

She had a full apartment, her laundry was taken care of and she was fed three meals daily. She was allowed to go outside with a mask on. Her temperature had been taken twice daily throughout the quarantine there.

Coming back to the states was a relief, she said. She is confident that if she contracted the virus, she would have received good medical care.

"I can’t even tell you how proud I am to be an American," Melanie said. "A lot of things can be said about the United States, but I’ll tell you what, we do a lot of things right."

Situation 'is a big circus'

On Wednesday, John tested negative for coronavirus. But he was not completely out of the woods. He needed to test negative again before he would be allowed to leave. Thursday, he tested negative again. He was clear of the virus but was still dealing with pneumonia.

"I don’t know what this virus has done to my health," he said. "And I don't want to have any long-lasting effect."

As of Monday, more than 89,000 people had contracted coronavirus worldwide, and more than 3,000 had died, according to Johns Hopkins data.

While doctors in Japan told him he didn't need a follow-up appointment, John said he still plans to see a doctorin the U.S. His doctor in Japan told him that it would be difficult to contract the virus a second time.

After they complete their self-imposed 30-day quarantine, John said he and Melanie would go to their local health department to get tested again. "We're not going to take that chance."

As he waited for the results of a CT scan assessing the progression of his pneumonia and his second coronavirus test results during his quarantine, he said there were so many things still in question:

• Figuring out how to deal with an unknown virus.

• Wondering if the CDC will allow me to go home.

• Not knowing if the damage done by the virus is permanent.

• Not knowing how the details of getting home work.

• Concerned about how people back home will accept me.

• Still don’t know if my test will come back negative; one positive and we start all over again.

"It really is a big circus," he said.

And the fact that he and Melanie couldn't be there for each other in person made everything harder.

"It’s really hell because we’re so close and we have such a good relationship," Melanie said. "I always take care of him and make sure he has the best, and he takes care of me and makes sure I have the best."

It goes beyond their own relationship, too – both were feeling the difference in the quality of life without human touch. Neither of them had human contact in the weeks of their quarantine.

"One of my doctors shook my hand a couple days ago, and I thought 'Wow, that’s actually human touch.' Of course, he had two layers of gloves and all taped up," he said, calling it a "kind gesture."

How did the virus spread so much?

More than 700 people who had been on board the ship contracted the coronavirus. And Japan's government has been questioned over its decision to keep people on the ship, which some experts have called a perfect virus incubator.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told the USA TODAY Editorial Board and reporters that the original idea to keep people safely quarantined on the ship wasn't unreasonable. But even with the quarantine process, virus transmission still occurred.

"The quarantine process failed," Fauci said. "I'd like to sugarcoat it and try to be diplomatic about it, but it failed. People were getting infected on that ship. Something went awry in the process of the quarantining on that ship. I don't know what it was, but a lot of people got infected on that ship."

Four people have died who were on board Diamond Princess during the coronavirus quarantine.

Contributing: David Oliver, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus quarantine separates cruise ship couple in U.S., Japan