A nurse practitioner from Minnesota has been stuck in her hotel in Mexico for nearly a week after testing positive for COVID-19.
On March 27, Diane Schmidt flew to Playa Del Carmen with her daughter and two other moms and their daughters. Another mom who was planning on going on the trip tested positive before flying to Mexico and has been at home in quarantine.
Schmidt has been fully vaccinated since early January, according to ABC-10. But, just to be safe she got the hotel insurance for her trip, which includes a person’s stay at the hotel for 14 days, in case of a positive COVID test.
"Now I'm really glad I signed that paper," Schmidt tells ABC-10.
She says she began feeling badly on Monday with a sore throat. By Tuesday she developed a cough. She thought it was sleeping with the air conditioner.
But, when Schmidt took her COVID-19 test to fly back home, within five minutes she discovered she was positive. She’s been quarantined in her hotel ever since.
She believes she got the virus on the flight, although she was wearing a medical-grade mask. She was the only one in her group who was fully vaccinated.
"My case is definitely an outlier. I would still highly recommend the vaccine," Schmidt said.
The CDC recently updated its travel guidance for fully vaccinated people, saying they can travel in the U.S. and abroad.
Following the lead of federal health officials, Monday, Los Angeles County today revised its COVID-19 travel advisory, lifting the mandate for fully vaccinated travelers to quarantine upon their return to the county.
The county's advisory continues to urge residents to avoid all non-essential travel, but those who do travel should continue to take precautions, such as face coverings and social distance, even if they are fully vaccinated.
"You have to be aware that quarantine is very realistic and it's very possible that you may end up here. It's a very small room. They literally have a guard standing outside my door 24/7. You cannot leave... Do you have the patience to be able to do that? And is that vacation worth it, should you end up in quarantine?" Schmidt says.
A doctor makes visits to check on her and she’s charged $100 every time she takes a COVID-19 test. "You could test positive and you could get it, and now I'm looking at being here potentially 19 days after my arrival," Schmidt said.