Comedian under coronavirus quarantine sneaks out of hotel resort to fly home
Frank King flies back to Seattle, saying he has an engagement to keep
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Your support makes all the difference.A comedian has broken quarantine on the Holland America cruise ship in Cambodia by sneaking onto a flight to Seattle.
After an 83-year-old woman on board tested positive for the virus, all passengers were told they had to be tested and wait for the results before being allowed to leave.
Some passengers were being held in the Phnomh Penh five-star hotel including Oregon comedian Frank King.
However, he decided he couldn’t wait any longer and defied instructions to stage an escape from the resort.
“How long is it going to take to get all those results back? Because I've got an engagement on the 20th of February.
”So I thought, you know, I'm outta here,“ he said.
The ship left for Hong Kong on 1 February but after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus it was refused dockings in several countries as virus fears spread and quarantined in Cambodia.
Fed up of waiting, Mr King resolved to escape the quarantine and scoped the hotel for the best exit before making a getaway, he told KOMO News.
Although security staff told him not to leave, he got into a waiting three-wheeled tuk-tuk and was driven to the airport to fly back alone.
When asked if he thought it was selfish to evade quarantine Mr King stated he was confident he did not have the virus since he had not shown any symptoms.
Officials with Holland America said guests at the hotel completed their screening, saying in part in a statement: “Results are being returned when completed, with the first batch of 406 all being negative. Cleared guests may travel home, and arrangements are being made for those guests.
British passengers have also been left stranded on a cruise ship in Japan, The Diamond Princess, after 542 passengers tested positive for the coronavirus.
David and Sally Abel, two Britons who have been stuck on the The Diamond Princess for over two weeks, have used YouTube videos and Facebook to call on the government to charter an evacuation flight.
The UK foreign office has advised British passengers on the vessel to stay on board and register for an evacuation flight later this week.
The virus, which originated in China’s Hubei province, is said to have spread to 27 countries with more than 75,000 cases confirmed.
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