Revised - A group of tourists on an Alaska-Yukon bus trip allege they were “stranded” in Whitehorse following positive tests for COVID-19.

Paul Bates is one of a group of 15 visitors on the tour, which begins and ends in Anchorage.

He spoke to the Star Monday afternoon to complain about the situation. He was interviewed over the phone from the Gold Rush Inn, where the passengers had spent the previous two nights.

Bates said 15 of the passengers had tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday.

On Monday morning, the tour bus had been scheduled to continue the trip to Dawson City.

He said the passengers who had been negative for the virus continued on the trip with tour officials – leaving the group of 15 behind with no representatives nor contact from the company.

Bates said repeated attempts to contact the company, Cosmos Tours, which is based in Toronto, were mostly futile.

The group had been allowed to use a conference room in the Gold Rush for the day while they attempted to find accommodations, but were having little luck.

“The company should have made arrangements,” Bates said. “It’s outrageous.”

A representative of Cosmos, though, had a different tale to tell.

“The Cosmos ‘Alaska & the Yukon’ tour had a scheduled stay in Whitehorse beginning Saturday night,” said Steve Born, the chief marketing officer.

“On Sunday morning, two of our guests were showing symptoms of illness, so we assisted them with COVID tests, which returned positive.

“Upon the positive result, the other members of the group also tested, resulting in several more positive tests within the group,” Born said.

“Today, we were advised at noon MST, that the tour continued for those who received negative results.

“Those who tested positive remained in Whitehorse as we began working on accommodations for them. At that time, they were given contact information for our operations team, and the tour director remained in contact as long as cell service allowed.”

Born added, “The latest update is that we continue efforts to make contact with all guests remaining in Whitehorse and continue to work on arranging accommodations for them. We also have a representative in touch with the health department in the Yukon as we work to have a representative on location in Whitehorse.”

Bates said the group had also been in contact with the Yukon government.

He said the passengers were receiving conflicting information, including different ideas on how long the group needs to quarantine.

“We’re hoping it’s for five days,” he said. “But we don’t know for sure.”

Bates, who is from England, said the affected tourists are a mixture of Canadians and Americans.

Two of the Canadian members, he said, had managed to secure rooms at the Yukon Inn, but there was some question as to whether the Inn would accept international travellers.

Samantha Henney, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services, advised the Star she needed to check further into the situation before saying anything more.

She said the passengers’ plight was complicated by the fact the situation falls under federal travel guidelines.

“Still, they’re here in the Yukon now, so we have to be able to do something to look after them,” Henney said.

Blake Rogers, the executive director of the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon, told the Star in an email Monday, “I was contacted this morning by the tourism operator you referenced who has been working hard all day to rectify this issue.”

On Tuesday morning, Blake told the Star the passengers all signed a waiver at the beginning of the trip specifying they would be responsible for looking after themselves in the event of a COVID-19 diagnosis.

It wouldn’t be logistically and financially feasible for a company such as Cosmos to bear all of the responsibility for such events, Rogers said.

He said travellers need to be aware that trips may not go as smoothly as they did in the pre-COVID era, and that they should be expect glitches.

“It’s about managing expectations,” Rogers said.

One of the key probems the passengers left behind in Whitehorse are facing is that there simply are next-to-no rooms available.

Since the Coast High Country Inn was removed from the market as it’s being converted into housing, and with the resumption of international travel here in the Yukon, vacant rooms are at a premium, he noted.

“I know this situation is not for lack of effort on the part of the company,” Rogers said. “I was trying to find rooms as well, and it’s pretty difficult.”

Rogers said the last he had heard Monday afternoon, the passengers were still looking for nine rooms.

“Everybody was kind of doing their own thing,” he said.

Clare Daitch, the manager of policy and communications for the Department of Tourism and Culture, updated the situation Tuesday afternoon.

She told the Star in an emailed statement, “While unfortunate for the tourists who contracted COVID-19 while on vacation, they were able to find accommodations for May 30th in Whitehorse.

“At this point, these visitors have ended their vacation early and will be returning home. Their purchase agreement with their tour operator stipulated that if they did contract COVID-19 while on their tour, this would be the procedure,” Daitch noted.

“We understand that the tourists feel let down by the tour bus company. The company is working with them to try to address their concerns.”

Daitch added that the government “provides self-isolation support to Yukon residents who cannot self-isolate at home.”