Coronavirus – Two planes carrying 350 American evacuees from Wuhan land at California military base to start quarantine
TWO planes carrying 350 American evacuees from China’s coronavirus epicenter Wuhan landed in California today – where they will spend 14 days in quarantine. The chartered jets landed in the early hours at Travis Air Force Base, where roughly half the evacuees will be housed. One of the planes will refuel and fly on to […]
TWO planes carrying 350 American evacuees from China’s coronavirus epicenter Wuhan landed in California today – where they will spend 14 days in quarantine.
The chartered jets landed in the early hours at Travis Air Force Base, where roughly half the evacuees will be housed.
One of the planes will refuel and fly on to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station near San Diego, another of the quarantine centers set up to house people who may be infected with coronavirus.
All evacuees were screened before boarding in Wuhan for symptoms of the virus – said to include fever, said Dr Christopher Braden of the US Centers for Disease Control.
They will be screened again after landing.
Dr Braden said: “If there is anybody who is ill or who has fever, they are not allowed on the plane.
“Once they arrive, another screening is the first thing that we will do on this end and, if there are any people who have symptoms and/or fever, consistent with coronavirus infection, they are transported to a medical facility for a full medical evaluation and isolation.”
Those quarantined at the two bases – including families with children –
will be housed at a lodging facilities normally used for military personnel.
Travis Air Force Base said: “A safety cordon will be established, away from residential housing, to ensure the Travis mission can safely continue, the privacy of the evacuees can be enforced, and to protect the health and welfare of our Team Travis community.”
It added Health and Human Services officials “will be responsible for all care, transportation, and security of the evacuees during the quarantine period.”
The two rescue flights come a week after the first 195 American evacuees from Wuhan arrived in California.
They are under a 14-day quarantine at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County.
Yesterday health officials said a child who was one of the original 195 evacuees developed a fever and was taken to a hospital for additional coronavirus testing.
The child, whose age was not revealed, is at the Riverside University Health System-Medical Center for testing and observation “out of an abundance of caution” and was accompanied by a parent, a statement said.
The State Department, which chartered the planes, said there could be more flights on Thursday.
US citizens who are evacuated are expected to reimburse the federal executive department for the flight.
Miramar and Travis are among four facilities chosen by the Pentagon to house quarantined evacuees.
The others are Fort Carson in Colorado and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
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There are 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus so far in the United States, including two cases believed to have been transmitted from patients after they arrived from China.
Officials declared a health emergency with a mandatory two-week quarantine for anyone travelling from China’s worst-affected Hubei province.
The virus – believed to have originated in bats – has so far infected more than
24,000 people and killed at least 500.
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