Utah man with coronavirus returns home from hospital

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Mark Jorgensen, a Utah man who has tested positive for the coronavirus, has been released from the hospital and returned to his St. George home early Friday morning.

Jorgensen was admitted to Intermountain Healthcare in Murray Feb. 28 after being transferred from a hospital in California.

The Utah resident tested positive for coronavirus while on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, and has been under close watch since then.

Jorgensen addressed his friends and family in a Facebook Live video Friday afternoon, noting that he is home with his wife Jerri who was also infected with the virus.

It was originally reported that Jorgensen would be released once he tested negative for the virus. But, he posted on Facebook earlier this week that his tests from Monday were still showing he tested positive — and he’s still waiting for results from Thursday to see if he is clean.

However, Jorgensen pointed to other cases in California where patients were allowed to be quarantined in their own homes. He said he found it “ridiculous” he had to stay at the hospital, when he would rather be at home.

Although he is happy to be home, he said he is still slightly anxious — especially after there had been indirect threats made to him and his wife after news they may be returning to St. George.

Jorgensen said the two of them will say inside the house under quarantine for however long they need to. But, they’ll still be separated from each other. 

He said in the video he will be staying on the first level of the house and sleeping down there, while his wife Jerri will be staying upstairs.

 

Mark Jorgensen, the St. George man who tested positive for coronavirus, has been allowed to go home and will stay quarantined for inside. He announced this on a Facebook Live video. pic.twitter.com/tGiSr64WBJ

— Paul Nelson (@KSLPaul) March 6, 2020

Because Jerri has already had the virus, she is technically immune — but they still want to be careful. They report they have to wear masks while they’re in the same room and stay six feet away from each other at all times.

“We will be compliant and do what [the medical professionals] ask us to do,” he said in the video.

Now that he is home, Jorgensen will be confined to his house under a court order, he said in the Facebook Live video. He reports still being asymptomatic, but wants to “ease concerns” by staying in his home.