VANCOUVER -- When the second Canadian evacuation flight from Wuhan, China touched down in Vancouver Monday night, Daniela Luo and her nine-year-old daughter Dominica were briefly just a few kilometres from their home in Coquitlam.
But they would not be reunited with family there, as the plane carried on to CFB Trenton in Ontario, where all 185 passengers on board will be quarantined for two weeks.
"This place is very nice," Luo said during a video chat from her and Dominica’s assigned room at the military base. "We have a microwave, fridge and TV and a very big king size bed."
But Luo said the best part is how everyone has treated her and her daughter from the moment they boarded the evacuation flight in Wuhan Monday morning.
"Even the first meal they served is Wuhan noodles," she said, referencing a traditional dish served in the city at the centre of the outbreak. "When I opened this, I said, oh! I'm so thankful to them, you know."
When they arrived back on Canadian soil, she was even more impressed. Luo said everyone has been helpful and very welcoming.
"The people, they're so nice. They're just wonderful people, wanting to help you," she said. "I am glad we are here."
Meals are being delivered to their room at CFB Trenton. Luo said her daughter is loving the military base. "She wants maybe one month here. I said, really? She's so excited!"
Assuming they remain healthy, the mother and daughter will be allowed outside periodically.
She’s worried about her parents in Wuhan, who she and Dominica had been visiting when the coronavirus outbreak began. But Luo felt she had to return to Canada with her daughter, and the experience has reminded the permanent residents why they moved here.
"It just make me feel so warm, and makes me like Canada more and more," she said.
