Victoria cruise passenger says COVID-19 quarantine centre in Trenton 'like a basic hotel'

Health officials tend to Canadians quarantined aboard a flight to Trenton. (Melanie Sibbitt)

Victoria — A Victoria woman says she's ready to spend 20 hours a day in isolation for the next 14 days at an Ontario military base after she was taken off a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship Monday.

Canadian Forces Base Trenton has become an impromptu quarantine centre for hundreds of passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship now docked near San Francisco.

Melanie Sibbitt is one of 237 passengers who disembarked the ship Monday and quickly boarded a chartered plane destined for CFB Trenton.

"I'm a little tired," Sibbitt told CTV News on Tuesday. "It was a very long day yesterday."

Sibbitt says she and her fellow Canadian cruise ship passengers touched down in Canada early Tuesday and were in their rooms by 9:30 a.m.

"The rooms are very much like a basic hotel," said Sibbitt. "We will get three meals a day and time outside four times a day for an hour."

The Canadian Red Cross is providing food and medication for the passengers. Warm clothing is also available to those who need it.

The Canadian government said in a statement that passengers were screened for symptoms before boarding the chartered plane to Trenton.

The Canadian passengers now in Trenton face a 14-day quarantine before they can return home.