Chattanooga couple quarantined for coronavirus might be headed home this week

Contributed by Lauren Buecker / John and Connie Buecker wear protective face masks while getting some fresh air while aboard the Princess Diamond cruise ship docked in Japan.
Contributed by Lauren Buecker / John and Connie Buecker wear protective face masks while getting some fresh air while aboard the Princess Diamond cruise ship docked in Japan.

Connie and John Buecker, the Chattanooga couple that has been in quarantine for over a month due to the coronavirus outbreak, were told they would be able to make their way home Monday.

Now those plans are up in the air after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criticized the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after a quarantined patient tested positive after her release from a San Antonio health facility.

Lauren Buecker, Connie and John's daughter, said Abbott asked that the more than 120 quarantined people who were flown from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to Lackland Air Force Base in February not be allowed to go home.

Abbott said the Bueckers and the rest of the people who are quarantined in a San Antonio hotel shouldn't be released until the CDC can guarantee they have no trace of the virus.

The Bueckers and the other passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that were evacuated from Japan have been quarantined at the Gateway Inn at the Lackland base since Feb. 17.

The Bueckers are staying in a small hotel room with a queen-sized bed, a TV and "not much else," Lauren Buecker said.

The only time the couple can get fresh air is when a delivery is made and their front door is opened.

Their temperatures are tested twice a day, they have their food catered and delivered to them from a company based in San Antonio and have twice tested negative for coronavirus.

photo Contributed by Lauren Buecker / John and Connie Buecker on a recent trip to Iceland.

Lauren Buecker said her parents were set to start the lengthy process of leaving quarantine Monday afternoon. John and Connie had planned to rent a car and take their time with the 15-hour drive back to Chattanooga.

Their daughter said they were planning to be back in town by Thursday after staying a couple of nights in Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The couple may have to stay at the hotel after Abbott's comments, but Lauren Buecker said her parents hope to be home this week.

Overall, she said her parents have been coping with the new lifestyle as best they can but their patience is wearing thin.

"My mom is a retired nurse, so she understand, the need for the quarantine, but she does not understand the need for even more quarantine," Lauren Buecker said. "It's a little unbelievable at this point."

Connie and John Buecker are cruise ship veterans, their daughter said. This was not their first cruise, and Lauren Buecker said it won't be their last. The couple has been able to travel a lot more in retirement and have been on a Scandinavian cruise, a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea and many others, she said.

Even after the ordeal of the virus spreading on their cruise ship, her parents will likely book more cruises in the future but will take an extended break from them for at least a year, Lauren Buecker said.

Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.

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