A British couple say they were stunned to learn the coronavirus had escalated into a raging pandemic after returning from a trip on the high seas, according to a report.
Elena Manighetti and Ryan Osborne, who live in Manchester, said they knew little of the virus when they set sail across the Atlantic Ocean in February from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean — and told their family not to share any bad news during the voyage.
“In February we’d heard there was a virus in China, but with the limited information we had we figured by the time we got to the Caribbean in 25 days it would all be over,” Manighetti told the outlet.
By the time they reached their destination in mid-March, the couple was unaware that most of the world was in the grip of a pandemic.
“We told our shore contacts we didn’t want to hear any bad news, which was a difficult job as it was pretty bad news,” Manighetti told the outlet.
But the couple soon learned something was up when they ran into issues while trying to dock their boat in the Caribbean.
“We first attempted to land in one of the French territories in the Caribbean but when we arrived we found all the borders were closed and the islands were closing down,” Osborne said.
They instead diverted their boat to Saint Vincent, where they used their GPS system to prove they had been isolating for nearly a month, according to the BBC.
“We don’t want to leave Saint Vincent for now as nowhere is open,” Manighetti said. “We’re sitting tight for the time being with the aim of getting out before hurricane season starts at the beginning of June.”
Jackie Salo
