The last people to be touched by the pandemic

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They had only heard about Covid. Then they returned to society to see its full impact

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A four-person crew of researchers traveled to Kure Atoll, a remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean that's more than 1,300 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii, in February.

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By the time they returned to Hawaii, the world was a different place. A world ravaged by a virus that has decimated businesses, overloaded healthcare systems, and forced new rules about social distancing and face masks. During the eight months the crew spent at the atoll, they had no TV, no cell service and limited access to internet. Instead, they relied on the occasional emails from friends and family to keep up with the outside world.

“I had definitely heard a few things about it," crew member Matthew Butschek II, 26, told CNN. "But between other diseases like SARS and swine flu, I thought, 'It's just the next thing. Nothing big.' I really thought it'd have already passed by the time we all got home."

He was wrong.

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"It really felt so far away," Charlie Thomas, an 18-year-old crew member, told CNN. "I had only seen a few things in the news. I remember flying into Honolulu (in February) at the same time that another flight arrived from Japan. Everyone on that plane had been wearing masks."

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"I feel like I'm still learning the details of everything," Butschek said. "But fortunately, no one I know, none of my friends, have been diagnosed with Covid."

Social distancing and quarantine measures have put a damper on their return.

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