Some 195 evacuees from Wuhan, China, who on Jan. 29 transited through Anchorage International Airport’s North Terminal on their way home, have been released from their quarantine at March Air Force Base in Riverside County, Calif.
The group, released on Feb. 11, was under a 14-day federal quarantine for COVID-19, the flu virus that originated in Wuhan, to ensure they were not contagious. It was the first federal quarantine in nearly 60 years.
“All 195 evacuees have completed final health check” and “pose no health risk,” said Dr. Nancy Knight with the Centers for Disease Control.
The photo above was released by the Riverside County Department of Public Health, as some of the travelers threw their surgical masks into the air in celebration. None are expected to need follow-up testing, the CDC said.
While at the Air Force base, they were housed in the bachelors quarters, a series of apartments, and were able to take part in various activities, such as Zumba classes, while at the same time their temperatures were taken multiple times each day.
When the cargo plane carrying the passengers, mostly American diplomats and their families, landed in Anchorage, there were reported to be 201 passengers onboard. The number released by health officials from the March AFB quarantine is 195, with no explanation for the discrepancy.
To date, more than 69,289 people have contracted the COVID-19 virus, and 1,689 have died as a result. The virus has surpassed the fatalities from the 2003 outbreak of SARS.
It was still a risk to Alaskan’s as the scope of the virus has still not been determined.
Legislators need to be putting an emergency closure order to Alaskas cruise ship ports on the books. Time will tell if it’s needed, but Industry deserves fair warning that if warranted, our Governor can close our ports.
The health of Alaskans is the primary concern of government when it comes to epidemics.
Hhmmm… what was the date the plane from China landed in Anchorage? How many persons did not reboard the plane? What was the date the principalbum said it was safe to let the kids back in school? We’re the people even quarantined?
Well it said “error in sending” but I now see it is up. I know I am not the only one who is concerned with how this was handled. I hope to get an answer. On the other hand I have not heard of anyone else getting sick. So maybe they know something I dont.
Isn’t the date the “quarantineers” were released the same day the announcement was made that the Wuhan virus has been discovered to have an incubation rate of up to 24 days? Maybe jumping the gun to ‘celebrate’ no individuals being infected and not detectable. Whatever, Alaskans should pay some attention to what’s going on. Big mistake not to. Right now, politics should be in the back seat, not determining every single facet of daily news, fake or not. But then, that takes something called “unity”. Food for thought.
14 days is not enough time. It incubates for 24 days without symptoms and can evade detection. We just probably released nearly 200 carriers into the population. Expect an explosion of cases in about 2 months’ time in the US.
It is still a risk as it is being reported that the virus can take up to 24 days to incubate.
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