Man cleared after coronavirus quarantine coughs in TV interview
A Pennsylvania man who was quarantined in San Diego with his 3-year-old daughter after attending a memorial service in Wuhan, China, where his father-in-law died of the coronavirus, began to cough enough to need water during a TV interview Friday.
Frank Wucinski has lived in China for over 15 years, spending about a decade in the epicenter city, where his wife’s family lives, according to Fox News.
He and his wife, who is a Chinese citizen, lived and worked in Guangzhou but moved to Wuhan three months ago to take care of his wife’s father after her mother died, the network reported.
Wucinski said on “America’s Newsroom” on Friday that when he and his daughter Annabel arrived at the Miramar US Marine base in Southern California, authorities separated them and placed them in isolation for a few days.
“A few days later, Annabel just coughed in front of some staff. They suggested we go to the medical tent. The medical tent contacted the CDC and they said that we should go back to isolation at the children’s hospital,” he said.
“So, we stayed there for about three days,” he said, adding that their tests came back negative.
At one point, Wucinski began coughing on the air – but said it was due to nervousness.
“They said I’m fine. I got tested twice. Negative both times. The cough was probably just nerves,” he said.
“Fortunately from what I understand, you know, it is contagious but the death rate is pretty low,” he said as he coughed on his child before grabbing her water bottle and taking a sip.
“So, yeah, I understand the fear,” he added.
Wucinski said he and Anabel are supposed to undergo follow-up checkups to make sure they remain healthy.
“So, we’re looking into trying to get some insurance because my insurance for work — for my job — doesn’t work in America. So, we’re applying,” he said.
Wucinski also set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for the unexpected medical bills he has begun receiving from their stay in isolation.
“My wife was not able to leave on the evac flight, because she is a Chinese citizen who only has a tourist visa and not a green card,” he wrote on the page before her father died.
“Three months ago, we lost her mother to a massive stroke. This is just too much for us, especially my wife and daughter, who constantly asks where ‘Nai Nai is (grandma).”
He added: “We hope that with this money, we can help pay our bills in America for Annabel and I. The quarantine is free, but flights out of California to family in the East coast is very expensive, as was the 2,200 dollar trip from China.”
In an update, he wrote: “Although I assumed all medical bills from our time in quarantine would be paid by the government, it turns out that I am financially responsible for the six days Annabel and I spent in isolation at the hospital.
“Secondly, since I do not know how long we will be in the United States, I am looking into getting health insurance for the two of us, since my insurance in China does not cover American doctors.”