16 more cruise evacuees in Bay Area sent to hospitals

The staff of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted the quarantine Thursday on all evacuees who flew into Solano County's Travis Air Force Base two weeks ago from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak that has left more than 2,000 dead in that nation.

The agency also cleared 63 people who arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on the same date as the Travis group. Both flights were chartered by the State Department.

One individual at Miramar was diagnosed with COVID-19 and remains under care at a hospital in the San Diego area, and officials have kept a close contact of that individual under quarantine as well.

On Sunday night, Travis welcomed Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, one of many cruise ships that faced lengthy quarantines or denials to entry at ports around the world. While 178 people arrived at Travis from the Diamond Princess, the CDC reported, 144 others went to Joint Base San-Antonio-Lackland in Texas.

At Travis, CDC press officer Scott Pauley said, six passengers confirmed to have COVID-19 were immediately sent for care at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha. Lackland sent seven passengers diagnosed with the illness there, according to reports from the San Antonio Express News.

Following screening procedures at Travis, 16 other passengers were sent to hospitals near Travis for isolation and further evaluation, Pauley said. He said none of the 16 were sent to Sacramento-area hospitals.

To date, at least 76,200 cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed globally, but all but 1,200 have been diagnosed in mainland China where the original outbreak of COVID-19 was confirmed. Public health officials have confirmed 2,247 deaths from the respiratory illness which causes fever, shortness of breath and coughing.

CDC officials said in a statement issued Thursday that the evacuees who were released pose no health risk to the surrounding community or to the communities where they will be returning. Nonetheless, San Diego County supervisors declared a local health emergency and proclaimed a local emergency.

They said the actions would allow public health officials to more effectively respond to COVID-19 and potentially help with securing reimbursements for the work. The health declaration will be in effect for 30 days, the local emergency proclamation for 60 days, but both could be extended.

“We have heard myriad concerns from people and organizations throughout the county of San Diego,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the the county's public health officer. “I want to assure you that the risk to the general public, related to COVID-19, is low at this time.”

The concerns about the potential transmission of coronavirus comes as San Diego County copes with a particularly nasty flu season. Influenza had killed 63 people there as of Feb. 15, up from 35 last year. California's Department of Public Health reported Friday that at least 328 people have died from the flu statewide this year.

Public health officials said county residents with the flu were crowding into emergency rooms and taxing hospital resources. They advised those who are sick to contact their primary care physicians first before seeking emergency assistance.

Wondering when to go to an emergency room? Public health officials advised seeking emergency care if you have the following symptoms: difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or abdominal pain, sudden dizziness, confusion, severe or persistent vomiting, flu-like symptoms that appear to get better, but then return with a fever and worse cough.