TORONTO -- A Canadian woman whose husband has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China says she is holding out hope that her two-year-old daughter’s test results come back negative so they can return to Canada as soon as possible.
Amelia Pan says her husband and daughter travelled to Wuhan to visit her father-in-law, who was dying of cancer, on Jan. 17.
Days after their arrival, Pan received word that both her mother and father-in-law had tested positive for coronavirus and her husband had contracted a fever. He later tested positive for the virus, forcing health officials to separate him from their young daughter, who was placed into quarantine in a different hospital.
“It breaks my heart. Every second that I don’t see my daughter, I don’t hear from her, I am worried,” said Pan, who spoke to CTV News Channel via Skype from Richmond, B.C. Thursday.
“These days are just living hell for me and it’s getting worse by the second.”
Pan’s daughter, Cerena, has been in quarantine since Jan. 29. She was initially listed on the manifest for the first evacuation flight leaving Wuhan, but her mother pulled her name from the list after she contracted a fever.
She says doctors in China did not seem concerned with the toddler’s initial test results.
“I am still hoping -- and the doctors in China are still hoping -- that it’s just the common cold,” she said.
Should her test results come back negative for coronavirus, Cerena could be released from hospital by Saturday.
Pan’shusband, who is said to be recovering from the virus, could be released from hospital as early as next week pending clear results.
“They haven’t been able to see each other for the past two weeks,” Pan said.
Making matters worse, Pan’s father-in-law passed away earlier this week. It’s unclear whether he died from complicated related to coronavirus.
“It’s been a very hard time for us all,” she said.
The federal government announced Thursday that it has secured a second chartered flight to evacuate all Canadians in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
“With the second flight, we’ll be able to bring every Canadian home,” Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said at a press conference on Thursday.
A total of 211 people were granted seats on the first repatriation plane, expected to arrive on Canadian soil early Friday morning. An estimated 50 Canadians will also leave Wuhan aboard an American flight.
Pan says she continues to hold out hope that both her husband and daughter will be cleared medically so that they can board the second promised flight, noting she has been in contact with Canadian officials.
