For Kody Kelly-Birns and his wife Jessica, it turns out their honeymoon vacation is lasting a little longer than they'd at first planned. 

The couple celebrated their honeymoon in Hawaii early in March, and while they were there, on Maui, an island relatively untouched by the spread of COVID-19, they watched the beginning of what would become a global movement to try to halt its spread. Eventually, they would become part of that movement. 

"It's hard not to enjoy yourself when you're in paradise," said Kelly-Birns, a district operator in the powerline trade for Sask Power. "Near the end of the trip, when things escalated more and the news got more intense, we started to worry a little bit. But we were still able to enjoy ourselves, it's hard not to there. There were no cases reported in Maui when we were there that we had heard of. We were just kind of concerned about what would happen when we got home."

Since then, Hawaii has recorded 56 cases of COVID-19, but the Birns family got out before any made their way to Maui. Nonetheless, they knew they were going to have to self-isolate for two full weeks upon their return to Canada. They went into self-isolation on Sunday, March 15, and are now just over halfway through the required period.  

"It's been different, that's for sure, not being able to socialize with friends and family through actual contact," Kelly-Birns said. "It's not that big of a deal. You just find things to keep you busy, whether that be TV or board games, reading a book, exercising in the house. It's been a different experience, I'm sure it is for everybody."

Kelly-Birns said a lot of his time has also been taken up with spring cleaning and video calls with family and friends to help stay social. And after a week confined in close quarters with one another, he said he and Jessica are doing well with their unexpected honeymoon extension. 

"We've been getting used to each other, that's for sure," he said. "It's going to be over a month here by the time I go back to work. Yeah, it's a lot of time together but that's why I asked her to marry me. I like spending time with her."

Like most of North America at the moment, the Birns family has been going through more than their fair share of TV shows as well. Just about any series they've been meaning to get caught up on, they've either already done so or are in the midst of doing so. 

"It's almost embarrassing to say," Kelly-Birns said. "Probably five to ten different shows we're on the go with right now. There's an endless amount of shows." He added that he's a huge sports fan and has been missing that, but has still found ways to stay entertained. 

There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Estevan or the Southeast as of this writing.