Tag: contracting

Windsor woman describes vacation gone wrong after contracting COVID-19

Ginna

Don’t travel internationally unless you think you can handle being alone with COVID-19, says Windsor resident Tracy Kell, whose romantic getaway to Cuba turned into an ordeal.

Publishing date:

Jan 14, 2022  •  4 days ago  •  3 minute read  •  17 Comments

Tracy Kell (right) of Windsor with her husband Joel Morris (left) in Varadero, Cuba, on Dec. 31, 2021. Photo by Tracy Kell /Windsor Star

If Tracy Kell could go back in time a few weeks, she’d probably advise her past self to cancel her trip to Cuba.

The 43-year-old Windsor resident has been sharing her disastrous travel experience after she fell ill with COVID-19 while on a romantic getaway with her husband.

“Hindsight is 20/20, of course,” said Kell, now back home and given the all-clear by her doctor and Health Canada.

“I don’t blame Cuba by any means. I just think I was too eager to go on a vacation. I felt safe. We’re both double vaccinated. But with all the uncertainty …”

Kell trailed off as she reflected on the ordeal that started her new year. “There’s no rulebook for what you do if you’re in Cuba, or the Dominican Republic, and you get COVID. You’re kind of on your own.”

Parents of two, Kell and her husband planned their vacation months ago: They try to make a trip to the resort community of Varadero every year.

Tracy Kell (left) and her husband Joel Morris (right) at their home in Windsor on Jan. 14, 2022.
Tracy Kell (left) and her husband Joel Morris (right) at their home in Windsor on Jan. 14, 2022. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

“We just go to relax,” Kell explained. “It’s like our kid-free time.”

They arrived in Cuba on Dec. 30, with their return flight booked for Jan. 6.

But the day after their arrival, Kell started noticing a sore throat. That evening, she became feverish.

“Then it got pretty bad. I don’t remember much from that night,” Kell

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