Warwick man wants loosened restrictions to visit his sick father in FL

Renewed travel restrictions put in place by Gov. Raimondo for certain states may help contain the coronavirus, but a Warwick man is now in a tough spot, as his father in Florida recently was diagnosed with cancer.

Randy Caddick wants to be by his father Don’s side, but people coming to Rhode Island from Florida must quarantine for 14 days, or test negative for the virus.

“He’s going to have a full body scan in a couple of weeks and then we’ll know what true diagnosis and know how much the chemo has helped him,” Caddick said. “It makes me upset because we don’t know how much time we have.”

Caddick had already made a trip Florida to visit his father in April, and had to sacrifice time at work to make it happen in order to spend all the time he could with his dad who was diagnosed in February.

“My work made me quarantine for 14 days,” he said. “It was a good time we got to spend some good time with him.”

Caddick said he can’t afford to go into any kind of quarantine again, even if it’s for a couple of days waiting for a test result.

According to a spokesperson from Gov. Raimondo’s office, certain people and situations are exempt from the quarantine, like health care and public safety workers.

Also on the list is people who must work on their boats, something that has Caddick outraged.

“Crazy that I can’t see my sick father but you can go work on your boat in Florida and be exempt. That’s kind of crazy,” he said.

He believes there should be loosened restrictions for people in his situation.

“You should be exempt to see your father, or your mother, brother, sister, whoever is sick. When they go in the hospital we’re not going to be able to see them,” he said. “Now I just got to hope he can come home soon.”