Passenger from hantavirus-stricken cruise ship on quarantine experience

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]There are now 16 Americans who are quarantining here at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and for 42 days this building is going to be their home.

[00:00:13]Among them Jake Rossmarion. I spoke with him just moments ago about what it's like to go without human touch at all.

[00:00:23]Here's a little bit of our conversation.

[00:00:25]What do you miss the most? I know that the thing that I'm most looking forward to and it's going to sound cliche is giving my fiance, my family and friends hugs because that first hug that I can give is going to be the best feeling in the world. You've been in quarantine now since you first arrived on Monday. How's it going for you? It's going pretty well. I think mostly I'm I'm in a good mental headspace. I think I have moments that are hard, but overall I'm I'm doing really well here.

[00:00:56]Trying to stay positive. I mean that's really my only option because I know that I'm going to be here for another 38 days and if I don't stay positive I don't know how I'll get through this. So I'm just trying to make myself feel at home here at the quarantine unit.

[00:01:12]>> How long was it supposed to be? It was originally supposed to be just over 5 weeks and it's turning into 12 weeks away from home. How are you occupying your time then? I am, you know, staying in touch with friends and family, trying to do some decorative things in my room yesterday. I was taking off all of the hospital like sheets and making my bed more comfortable for myself with a mattress pad, new pillows, new sheets. My family and my fiance's family sent me a bunch of packages and he definitely chose a weighted plushy for me to sleep with.

[00:01:42]How difficult is it to go without human [snorts] touch, human contact? It's it's extremely difficult.

[00:01:50]Yeah, it's extremely difficult.

[00:01:52]>> Are you able to interact with any of the other people that are in quarantine there? Face to face there's no interactions. The only face-to-face interactions I have with the nurses outside the door. What is the most difficult like for you? It's not being able to see people face-to-face and not being able to see my my family for now an extended period of time, my fiance. I mean, this trip was going to be already the longest that we had been apart from each other prior to it be being extended by an extra 7 weeks. So, that's definitely uh extremely hard.

[00:02:24]>> Are there any events or things that you're missing while you're stuck in quarantine?

[00:02:29]Yeah, so Sorry. Um I was supposed to go to my cousin's wedding in Italy and unfortunately, I won't be making that. So, I feel terrible, but it's the right decision.

[00:02:48]But, you have your own wedding to look forward to. Yes. Yes. So, I'm I'm looking forward and hopefully uh we'll have more planning calls while I'm here.

[00:02:56]Um when I was in my darkest place on that ship we had a wedding planning call and for just that 1 hour it was so nice to have a a moment of normalcy and to not feel like I was stuck in that little box on a ship with so much unknown. Do you feel at all like you're you're stuck in a a box now? Not the way that I was before, no.

[00:03:23]>> What's keeping you so optimistic and what is the most difficult like for you?

[00:03:26]I think the love and support is what's keeping me optimistic and it's not just that I have love and support, it's just that I can feel that it's such so heartfelt that love and support. What do you want people who are at home watching me out to know?

[00:03:45]I want them to know that this isn't the next pandemic and even though it may seem scary, I think at the end of the day, the people that it's scariest for is just us. There's nothing to be worried about.

[00:03:57]I know we are going through a tough time here, and that's also why I'm just trying to stay positive because I want to, you know, share that joy with everyone and that even in this kind of situation, there's still a light at the end of the tunnel and you can still, you know, make a positive spin on things.