OC Man Diagnosed With COVID-19 Arrives At LAX From Aruba
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — An Orange County man diagnosed with COVID-19 arrived Thursday in an isolation chamber aboard a private jet at Los Angeles International Airport Thursday where a medical team in hazmat gear loaded him into an ambulance.
"The patient was conscious and alerted when we picked him up in Aruba," one of the crew members said. "Of course he was very, very anxious because he was waiting in Aruba for a few days."
The 65-year-old man had tested positive for the novel coronavirus while in Aruba. His wife, who has also tested positive for the virus, said she believes the couple contracted the disease during a trip to Egypt earlier this month. She came home and her husband traveled again.
The Thursday flight, chartered by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, was lined in plastic with two pilots, a doctor and paramedic on board.
"We basically started an IV and sedated him so he would go sleeping all the way in the chamber because it can be very difficult to be inside of it," the crew member said.
The man was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange County where he's undergoing treatment.
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Meanwhile in Peru, Cypress resident Angel Cerventes said he and his group of friends cannot get home after the country went on lockdown.
"Honestly, day by day, our spirits are dwindling," Cerventes said.
Cerventes and his friends are in contact with nearly 500 other Americans who they believe are also stuck in Peru amid the coronavirus pandemic.
He said calls to local leaders and the embassy have gone unheard, though they're hopeful a humanitarian flight to the United States would soon be available.
"We know that it's a global pandemic, and we're ready to go home and quarantine ourselves," Cerventes said. "Whatever we need to do to help everybody we just want to be home we want to be in a place where we feel comfortable."
The group in Peru said they might soon be able to get a flight out of the country headed to Florida with help from local Congressman Jimmy Gomez.