More than 300 passengers from the cruise ship Diamond Princess have been evacuated to Travis Air Force Base in California, with many of them them expected to subsequently travel to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. They are to face a two week quarantine upon arrival, to monitor for symptoms of the new Coronavirus.
Fourteen of the passengers have already tested positive, and will be isolated and treated in separate facilities.
The reason for the transport is the failure of the cruise ship to act as a suitable quarantine zone. While the virus has not been moving off of the ship, some people on board have become infected during the quarantine, extending the duration of the restrictions and raising doubts about the viability of the current efforts.
The US transport has not been embraced by all of the passengers.
As a polar opposite reaction, an Italian citizen has joined the U.S. passengers in their transport and land-based quarantine despite being identified as infected. He is a legal U.S. resident, and was allowed to accompany his wife, who is a U.S. citizen. The remaining 35 Italian citizens on board the ship are expected to be repatriated by Italy today.
The housing for the cruise ship passengers is to be segregated from the housing for the existing 234 quarantined people at Travis Air Force Base, associated with the China evacuations of February 5th and 7th.
