Cruise-Ship Coronavirus Evacuees Arrive At Travis AFB

NORTH BAY, CA — Officials at Travis Air Force Base confirmed a flight carrying hundreds more coronavirus-quarantined Americans landed late Sunday night at the military installation near Fairfield in Solano County but the total number of those now under 14-day quarantine at the North Bay military installation was not immediately available Tuesday morning.

Their transport to Travis AFB was announced Saturday by the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said in the announcement that 400 passengers aboard a Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japanese waters wanted to return to the United States; therefore, the 400 passengers would be flown on U.S.-chartered planes to two U.S. military facilities: Travis AFB and Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.

Fourteen of the 400 cruise-ship passengers tested positive for the deadly 2019 Novel Coronavirus, according to a joint statement Monday from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about the repatriation of American passengers from the Diamond Princess.

UPDATE: Among the Americans evacuated from the ship is Napa County's first confirmed case of COVID-19.

"During the evacuation process, after passengers had disembarked the ship and initiated transport to the airport, U.S. officials received notice that 14 passengers, who had been tested 2-3 days earlier, had tested positive for COVID-19," U.S. officials said in the statement. "These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols."

Travis AFB officials said Monday that 171 individuals made up the newest group of coronavirus evacuees at the base. The group of 171 people does not include those who previously arrived Feb. 5 and Feb. 7 at the base from the Wuhan area of China where the new coronavirus — officially named COVID-19 — is believed to have originated.

According to Travis AFB, any cruise-ship evacuees who developed symptoms in flight or tested positive for the virus were to be "transported to an appropriate location for continued isolation and care."

"They will not remain on Travis AFB," base officials said.

"None of the passengers currently on the installation have tested positive for COVID-19 or are symptomatic," Travis AFB said Monday morning. "If any passenger displays symptoms, they will be transported to an off-base hospital for containment and specialized care. CDC is fully responsible for all aspects of the quarantine operation and Team Travis personnel will have no contact with these passengers."

The newest group were to be housed separately from those already quarantined at the base.

CDC said the American passengers were screened before leaving the ship, and monitored and evaluated by medical and public health personnel "every step of the way, including before takeoff, during the flight, and after arrival."

"U.S. Government staff will conduct risk assessments to ensure the health of each traveler, including temperature checks and observation for respiratory symptoms," the CDC said. "Travelers will be monitored during the flight to Travis Air Force Base where all travelers will be screened again. Any passengers taken onward to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland will be monitored during that flight as well and screened upon arrival in Texas."

In an effort to ascertain the total number of evacuees now quarantined at Travis AFB in the North Bay, Patch reached out to the base and to CDC. This post will be updated should we hear back with that information.

The United States as of Monday had 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in seven states: Arizona, California, Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois and Massachusetts. Another 60 cases across 42 states were pending confirmation. A total of 467 cases have been investigated and tested by the CDC, 392 of which came back as negative for the virus.

More than 1,800 deaths in China have been attributed to COVID-19, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization. As of Tuesday, WHO says 72,528 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in China and 1,870 deaths. Over the last 24-hour period, 98 people died from the virus in China.

WHO's risk assessment remained "Very High" Tuesday for China, and "High" throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Outside of China, there were 804 confirmed cases of the virus as of Tuesday in 25 countries. Three deaths in countries other than China are attributed to COVID-19.