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Life under quarantine: Passenger from Grand Princess cruise ship speaks from Lackland Air Force Base

Kathleen Reed said she and dozens of other passengers are now staying in apartments that are cordoned off from the rest of the base

FORT WORTH, Texas — For the first time in weeks, Kathleen Reed woke up Wednesday on solid ground.

The Granbury woman is one of about 3,500 people who were stuck on the Grand Princess cruise ship after the novel coronavirus was detected in 21 people on board.

But Wednesday, she woke up in San Antonio, at Lackland Air Force Base, where she and dozens of others from the ship are now under quarantine.

"We can go outside, but if we go outside, we're supposed to wear our masks," Reed told us over video chat, as she gave us an inside look into life under quarantine.

"It's a little apartment with a kitchen and one bedroom and a bath, and a laundromat which I just found," she said. 

RELATED: Plane with Grand Princess cruise ship evacuees lands near JBSA-Lackland

She says crews wearing full protective suits drop off meals multiple times a day at their doors. Lunch was a hamburger and potato salad. She also said people can go outside, but they need to wear masks and practice "social distancing" from other people, which she said means maintaining a distance of about six feet.

"So we went on a walk this morning, we did some push-ups and some jumping jacks," Reed said.

But things remain much more restricted than normal life. They cannot go to stores or leave the apartment area.

"They have put a fence around the area, a big one of those portable chain link fences. and they have people on the outside," Reed said.

RELATED: Cruise passengers from Granbury headed to quarantine in San Antonio after coronavirus found on ship

WFAA asked if quarantine was different than she expected.

"It's better than a big white tent, you know, like they did in a movie years ago," she said. "We have troops that are deployed that don’t have it as good as we have it right now, so I'm okay with it."

Reed said they've been told to expect two weeks in quarantine, but that cases will be re-evaluated after 72 hours. She remains healthy, as do the other Granbury couples she and her husband traveled with.

She's keeping the same positive attitude she's had this whole time.

"I'm okay with this," Reed said. "We can do this." 

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