Cruise Ship Evacuees Arrive At Miramar For Coronavirus Quarantine

SAN DIEGO, CA — A second group of passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship arrived Wednesday at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to be quarantined at the San Diego base.

It was unclear how many passengers were aboard the plane, but they join 42 passengers who arrived Tuesday night at MCAS Miramar, where they will be quarantined for 14 days and monitored to determine if they develop any symptoms of the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

At least 21 people tested positive for coronavirus on the Grand Princess. Roughly 3,500 people were aboard the cruise ship, including about 900 Californians. The ship had been held off the coast of Northern California before it was allowed to dock Monday in Oakland.

While some of the California residents will be housed at Miramar, others will be housed at Travis Air Force Base northeast of Oakland.

Cruise ship passengers who are residents of other states were being taken to Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia.

This will be second time MCAS Miramar has been used as a quarantine facility due to COVID-19.

In February, more than 200 people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China – the epicenter of the outbreak – were placed under federal quarantine at the facility. Two of the evacuees eventually tested positive for the virus. Both of the patients have since recovered and been released.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced that the new coronavirus had become a "pandemic." The pandemic declaration refers to the scope of the new coronavirus — but not its severity — and means it has become a "worldwide spread of a new disease."

On Monday, health officials confirmed the county's first presumptive positive case of coronavirus in a local resident, who is being treated at Scripps Green Hospital. The case is considered presumptive positive until test results are confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scripps has taken precautionary measures and sent any staff who may have been exposed to the illness to home quarantine with hospital support.

"Scripps Green Hospital and the adjacent Scripps Clinic Torrey Pines are safe for patient care and all appointments and procedures are continuing as usual at both facilities," according to a hospital statement.

Read more: First San Diego County Resident Tests Positive For Coronavirus

The woman, who is in her 50s, tested positive after traveling overseas to an unspecified location, according to Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer.

Although the patient is considered the county's first coronavirus case, the virus has had a presence in the San Diego area.

In addition to the two cases stemming from the quarantine at MCAS Miramar, last week a person who works at an AT&T retail store in Chula Vista tested positive for coronavirus, prompting the temporary closure of some AT&T stores in the region. The patient lives in Orange County.

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Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019 is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is currently no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Related coverage:

• Coronavirus: San Diego County Extends Emergency Declaration
• Coronavirus: SDSU To Move Classes Online After Spring Break
• Coronavirus: UCSD Cancels In-Person Classes For Spring Quarter
• San Diego DA's Office Warns Of Coronavirus-Related Price Gouging
• Coronavirus: Handwashing Stations Placed Throughout County

City News Service and Patch editor Kristina Houck contributed to this report.