Kari Kolstoe, 60, boarded the Grand Princess yacht to relax after 18 months of cancer treatment, but now faces the prospect of two weeks of isolation.

Of the 2,400 passengers stranded on the Grand Princess yacht off the coast of San Francisco, California, USA, few face high risks like Kari Kolstoe, a retired woman in North Dakota who is suffering from cancer. phase 4.

She and her husband, Paul, 61, see the trip to Hawaii aboard the Grand Princess as a short and necessary vacation after a long period of medical treatment. However, the prospect of a two-week quarantine worried her because there might be a delay in the next round of chemotherapy scheduled for early next week.

"The situation is very precarious," she said in a phone call from the train on March 6. "I'm worried that I will not be able to return."

Besides the fear of carrying cancer is the fear of getting nCoV, the virus is especially dangerous for the elderly with underlying medical conditions and weakened immune systems.

"I am very at risk," said Kari, who has a rare form of neuroendocrine cancer and has spread throughout her body. "I'm stuck here for a lot of bad reasons."

Vice President Mike Pompeo said yesterday 21 of the 46 people tested on board had tested positive for nCoV, including 19 sailors and two passengers. The ship will soon be taken to a non-commercial port and nearly 3,500 people on board will undergo another round of testing.

The Grand Princess was denied access to San Francisco port on March 4 after some passengers and crew showed flu-like symptoms. At least four passengers on a trip from San Francisco to Mexico on the ship last month were infected with nCoV, one of which died.

"Those in need of isolation will be quarantined," including all 1,100 crew members, many of whom may have been in contact with nCoV during their previous trip to Mexico, "said Pence.

However, it is not clear how those who have negative results and no symptoms will be treated.

"We can deal with bad news or any kind of news, but we need the information to make the right decisions, and that's difficult in this situation," Ms. Kari said. "I can go from madness to sadness and anger at yachts and worry about my health, worry about not getting treatment early."

Ms. Kari said the crew had "tried their best" but expressed frustration when the passengers were not informed of the test results before Mr. Pence announced on television. Notice from the captain is given 20 minutes later.

Ms. Kari often endured the pain and although these days her health was better, she felt increasingly uncomfortable when she was confined in the couple's cabin.

"We will only get a piece of paper under the door if we need prescription medication in the next 7 days," she said. "There are dozens of problems. We all have dirty clothes."

Describing herself as a person who was very passionate about traveling by yacht, Kari said that this experience made her change her mind. "It may be a risk that I cannot take anymore," she said.

She lived by faith in God in the meantime.

"God is with me. I know that," she said. "I just lost my father and I believe he's up there, somehow going to solve this little problem and I'll be negative, go home and get treated."