SALT LAKE CITY — A second Utahn who contracted coronavirus on a cruise ship has been cleared to come back to the U.S.
St. George resident Jerri Jorgensen shared a Facebook video at 7:56 p.m. Saturday Tokyo time announcing that she’d had her second consecutive negative test. Doctors told her she’d likely be released Monday and a car would take her to Tokyo where she’d fly home March 4 or 5.
“Utah, I’m coming home,” she said with a smile.
Her husband, Mark Jorgensen, is in isolation at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, and became the first COVID-19 patient treated in Utah when he was transported from a California hospital on Friday afternoon. The Jorgensens are two of four Utahns who were quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship on Feb. 5, along with hundreds of other passengers.
Tooele resident John Haering was the first Utahn to test positive for the virus, and he was cleared to leave a Japanese hospital earlier this week. His wife, Melanie, flew home with several hundred other U.S. citizens, including Mark Jorgensen, on a plane chartered by the U.S. government.
Mark Jorgensen and Melanie Haering were quarantined at Travis Air Force Base for what was supposed to be 14 days. That quarantine ends Monday, and Haering, who tested negative for the virus the same day her husband was cleared to leave a Japanese hospital, will be free to return to Utah.
Mark Jorgensen tested positive on Feb. 25, and he was transported to two different hospitals before being flown to Utah on Friday.
Mark Jorgensen posted a Facebook video Friday night, in which he showed friends his room, which is spacious but spartan. He said he was thrilled that there is an exercise bike in the room, but he was disappointed he didn’t get to watch the Utah Jazz/Washington Wizards game because the TV wasn’t working.
He ended by thanking those who have prayed for him and said he has felt that love and support, despite all that he and his wife are experiencing. On Saturday, he was interviewed by Fox News’ Neil Cavuto, where he confirmed he hasn’t had any symptoms despite testing positive for the virus.