When a woman from Utah died unexpectedly on the U.S. island of Guam, her family members traveled to the territory but ended up in quarantine, unable to comfort her grieving husband and young children or help make funeral arrangements.
Jayme Alsup Ellis moved to Guam with her husband and three children for a job this summer, her family told ABC 4 News.
On Monday, the 37-year-old was taken to hospital after she developed a fever and started throwing up. Her husband wasn’t permitted to stay with her at the hospital due to the coronavirus pandemic but he later received a call informing him that his wife had died.
Hospital officials had said Ellis arrived in a stable condition, according to ABC 4. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused her death, but the station reported that the hospital had conducted a COVID-19 before she died, which had come back negative.
On Thursday, Ellis’ mother and sisters traveled to Guam from South Jordan, Utah—but have been in quarantine since.
The family have been pleading with government officials to be tested for coronavirus, so they can leave quarantine and be with Ellis’ grieving husband and three children, aged one, four and five.
But they say the government won’t test them for coronavirus so they can travel to the home Ellis had shared with her family in Guam.
Ellis’ sister Holly Alsup Montano urged Guam health officials on Facebook to allow them to leave the Dusit Beach Resort, where she and other family members are quarantined, before their return flight to the U.S. on October 8.
“Guam is beautiful, and while we would love to be here to tour your gorgeous island, I’m afraid our circumstances are more tragic,” Montana wrote in a post on the Facebook page for the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS).
“Our sister and daughter, Jayme Ellis, was a Guam resident. She suddenly passed away last week leaving her three young children (ages 5, 4, and 1) and her husband shocked and in mourning. They have no family nearby to help with this hardship.”
Montano said she and other family members had traveled to Guam to help her sister’s husband care for the children and make funeral arrangements and plans.
“Since our return flight leaves on Thursday October 8, the time we have to complete these tasks is limited and we plea for special consideration of our situation,” she wrote.
“Please allow us to be released from the hotel and grant us time to mourn with our loved ones. We would be happy to quarantine in a situation that allows us to be with the children and help her husband, such as at their residence in Yigo.”
She added: “We are healthy, health conscious citizens who have had no known exposure to the virus, have been compliant with social distancing and face mask regulations through our travels, and show no symptoms. We ask to prove this with a Covid test or in whatever manner you see fit, expedited if you would.”
The family has been contacted for additional comment.
Guam had more than 2,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 49 deaths as of October 2, according to the territory’s health department.
Meanwhile, Utah had more than 77,000 total COVID-19 cases and 478 deaths as of Sunday, according to the state’s health department.
The Guam government requires all individuals entering Guam by air or sea to quarantine for 14 days as part of the territory’s ongoing effort to contain the spread of coronavirus, according to a health department memo issued last month.
“Arriving passengers must first quarantine at a Government of Guam Quarantine Facility, unless the individual qualified for quarantine at an approved rental lodging or personal resident as authorized” by the DPHSS, the memo adds.
The DPHSS has been contacted for additional comment.
This graphic, provided by Statista, shows the countries with the most COVID-19 cases.
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