SAN ANTONIO – Update:
The CDC reassured the city of San Antonio during a press briefing that the goal of the 14-day quarantine is to protect the safety and health of the passengers and the city as a whole.
This comes after a plane transported as many as 250 people that will be quarantined against the novel coronavirus at Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland Friday afternoon around 12:25 p.m.
Officials say the plane touched down safely and the passengers are considered to have been exposed to the virus. However, no one has been officially diagnosed.
The passengers aren’t expected to get sick; however, the CDC says it is still a possibility over the course of the next 14 days.
While in quarantine, the CDC says everyone will undergo twice daily temperature screenings, and if anyone shows signs of illness, they will receive an immediate medical evaluation.
If someone is diagnosed with coronavirus, they will then be transported via EMS to a hospital that has already been arranged to treat the coronavirus patients.
The CDC says hospitals across the city of SA and the nation have a plan in place in case of a coronavirus diagnosis.
Original:
A plane transporting as many as 250 people who will be quarantined as a precaution against the novel coronavirus arrived Friday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
The people will undergo a 14-day, federally-mandated quarantine as a precaution against the disease.
The evacuees will be kept separated at the Gateway Inn and Gateway Villa on the base, fenced off and watched over by U.S. Federal Marshals. The quarantine period, which will begin when their plane leaves China, is based on the approximate period of the disease.
The evacuees are among 1,000 people, which include American citizens, residents, and their family members, who need to return to the United States from China’s Hubei Province, where the new, respiratory illness was first detected. There have been more than 24,000 cases and more than 400 deaths in China, said Captain Jennifer McQuiston, the deputy director of the CDC’s Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.
“So it’s safest for these Americans who are healthy and not known to be infected, to be brought home,” McQuiston said during a news conference Thursday.
The initial flights have departed China for the United States with approximately 300 passengers on board. One of the aircraft will refuel at Travis Air Force Base and continue on to Omaha, Nebraska via Lackland Air Force Base.
— U.S. Northern Command (@USNorthernCmd) February 7, 2020
(2 of 4)
READ MORE: Up to 250 people could arrive Friday at JBSA-Lackland for coronavirus quarantine
Understand: What is the coronavirus?
This is a developing story. Stay with KSAT 12 both online and on-air for more information.