TORONTO -- The father of a toddler evacuated from Wuhan will voluntarily go into a two-week isolation at an Ontario military base so that he can be with his daughter despite him feeling there is risk he could contract coronavirus.
Richard Fabic's daughter, Chloe, was in Wuhan with her grandparents while he and his wife were moving houses in Canada. Then came the massive outbreak of the novel virus.
Fabic said he was offered to join the toddler and his in-laws in quarantine for 14 days and decided to go ahead. He said he has thought about the possibility of contracting the coronavirus but the benefits of being at the base outweigh the risks.
"It's certainly a risk and it's not something I take too lightly but I'll take the same precautions as everyone else, wearing a mask, washing my hands," Fabic told CTV News Toronto on Thursday.
Fabic has been advocating for Ottawa to airlift Canadians out of the epicentre of the virus since the outbreak.
He said he was frustrated seeing other countries like the United States and Japan evacuating its citizens before Canada but says knowing his daughter got on the plane is a big relief.
"It's the one thing I could have hoped for," Fabic said. "I'll get to see her and hug her and play with her."
On Thursday morning, the plane touched down in Trenton with 176 people from Wuhan onboard. All passengers will spend two weeks at Canadian Forces Base Trenton where they will be monitored to check whether they've contracted the virus.
The plane was originally scheduled to take off on Wednesday, but was delayed due to bad weather.
Fabic said he doesn't have much information about the quarantine but was told the earliest he can arrive is at 12 p.m. on Friday.
READ MORE: This is where the Canadian coronavirus evacuees will spend the next two weeks
"I'm really looking forward to seeing her," he added.
The latest figures report 636 deaths and 31,161 confirmed cases of coronavirus on mainland China. In addition, Hong Kong has had 22 cases, including one death. Macao has had 10 cases.
Most of the deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.
With files from The Canadian Press
