IMMEDIATEREL///@TACNET//.ATTN/CDR//@JC//URGENT/UNCLASSIFIED
"....even more Americans may become subject to summary removal from their posts..."
"The tents were set up to meet a request from federal officials to provide enough housing at the facility for at least 250 more people in individual rooms in case a plane carrying passengers who need to be medically screened is temporarily diverted to March ARB" (Riverside PE)
Currently, there doesn't appear to be any validated information as to the actual whereabouts of the detainees, no demographics, and other health related issues. It appears the "federal officials" have complete jurisdiction as to where to dump the weary Wuhan immigrants without regard to how Californians might feel about it.
.. There has been little information prior to their arrival as to where the evacuees would be quarantined. Patricia Kime of Military Times reports that 195 evacuees are currently being isolated at March AFB in Riverside;Coronavirus: 350 evacuees from Wuhan, China arrive at Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield announced two State Department chartered evacuation flights from Wuhan, China arrived Wednesday carrying some 350 passengers from the country stricken by the deadly novel coronavirus. One of the aircraft will refuel at Travis and continue on to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, the base reported on Facebook.
"A child among the 195 Americans quarantined at March Air Reserve Base in California has been hospitalized after developing a fever, but whether the youngster has the new coronavirus has yet to be determined. Riverside County Department of Health officials said Tuesday that the child and a parent were taken to Riverside University Health System-Medical Center to be tested for the virus, which has infected more than 24,000 people in 25 countries and killed 492, mostly in China." (MilTimes)
At least one detainee attempted to make a break for it following touchdown at March ARB, as reported by Sandra Emerson at the Press-Enterprise;
"Riverside County Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser issued the order requiring the passenger to stay at the base for the entire incubation period, up to 14 days, or until otherwise cleared, officials said in a news release Thursday, Jan. 30. " (Riverside PE)
The article goes on to report that the flight was redirected away from Ontario airport and landed directly at the airbase. (Daily Bulletin) Speculation is rampant as to why the flight changed at the last minute and doesn't explain yet another flight that landed at Travis AFB. It would seem rather a misjudgement in logistics to have planes loaded with suspect coronavirus cases unload in the middle of a civilian airport. The Mercury News reports of the other flights out of the epidemic ground zero of Hubei province;
..."one of two planes carrying some 350 passengers out of China that landed at Travis early Wednesday. The other plane refueled and continued on to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego County, the base reported. Two other chartered planes from China are expected to arrive by Thursday at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska," (SJ Mercury)
The article reports that Travis will quarantine the incoming passengers at the Westwind Inn on base. For the Lackland AFB suspected cases, Joe Galli reports for WOAI, San Antonio;
At least one plane with quarantined Americans has left China for Lackland AFB and is expected to land Thursday." (WOAI)
The billeting at Lackland appears more of an unused barracks compared to the upscale treatment at the Travis Westwind, but notably superior to the tent city at March ARB in Riverside.
Gathered from all of the above, the plan to house the incoming suspected coronavirus cases does not appear to be organized at all with a tent city, attempted escape, makeshift lodging and converted barracks for accommodations. This does not take into account yet another outbreak of the epidemic in some other far corner of the globe where even more Americans may become subject to summary removal from their posts, whether in the State Department or perhaps missionaries or NGOs in a non-official role. To what degree US health officials are coordinating efforts with the State Department and even the Pentagon has yet to be determined as well.
The one consistent event in the entire episode of the Wuhan catastrophe thus far is that aircraft appear to make their entry into the United States, through California.
(Note: corrections to this story in progress)
(02/06/20/1900PST) "The hospitals and county health officials were pressing the CDC to offer test kits to identify the strain of virus without the need to send biological samples to the federal headquarters in Atlanta." (Fox5, SD)
They haven't provided them already? Did they send all the kits to Wuhan?
CDC Tests for 2019-nCoV
CDC has developed a new laboratory test kit for use in testing patient specimens for 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The test kit is called the "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase (RT)-PCR Diagnostic Panel."
Extended Reading
Note in the first Miramar story below that, "The quarantine is part of a wide-ranging U.S. government response..." with no mention or credit given to the state of California.
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CDC prepare to receive quarantined China evacuees
Two facilities at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar have been readied to house hundreds of Americans returning from China due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Marine Corps said Tuesday. Dr. Christopher Braden, a deputy director with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control deployed to handle repatriation flights from China to California, said the arrival is imminent.
5th evacuee from MCAS Miramar hospitalized
A fifth person who arrived in Miramar on a flight from China's coronavirus zone was taken to the hospital Thursday.
An American woman evacuated from China over the Wuhan coronavirus filmed her journey and flight home with her 8-year-old daughter
An American woman evacuated from China as the deadly coronavirus continues to spread filmed her journey and evacuation flight home with her 8-year-old daughter. Priscilla Dickey filmed and photographed her journey to the US from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, which included being picked up by a cab driver in a hazmat suit, deserted city streets, and an airport filled with people wearing masks.
Sources
March AFB, https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/02/05/child-from-march-air-reserve-base-quarantine-hospitalized-with-fever/
Tent City, https://www.pe.com/2020/02/02/tents-set-up-as-a-coronavirus-precaution-at-march-air-reserve-base-in-riverside-county/
Escape, https://www.pe.com/2020/01/30/coronavirus-evacuee-quarantined-at-march-air-reserve-base-in-riverside-county/
Reroute, https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/01/29/americans-evacuated-from-coronavirus-zone-in-china-en-route-to-riverside-county/
Travis AFB, https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/05/coronavirus-350-evacuees-from-wuhan-china-arrive-at-travis-air-force-base/
Lackland AFB, https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/sneak-peak-of-san-antonios-coronavirus-quarantine-housing
Test Kits, https://fox5sandiego.com/news/officials-assure-public-safety-as-4-patients-are-evaluated-for-coronavirus-at-local-hospitals/
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