First Group of Coronavirus Evacuees Cleared to Leave San Antonio Base

By Sanford Nowlin on Thu, Feb 20, 2020 at 3:06 pm

[
      {
        "name": "Real 1 Player (r2) - Inline",
        "component": "27560945",
        "insertPoint": "3",
        "requiredCountToDisplay": "5"
      },{
        "name": "Air Ad - NativeInline - Injected",
        "component": "27688470",
        "insertPoint": "2/3",
        "requiredCountToDisplay": "9"
      }
    ]

click to enlarge

Kevin Iinuma / Wikimedia Commons

A surgical technician scrubs in before entering an operating room at Lackland's Wilford Hall medical facility.

Ninety of the coronavirus evacuees quarantined at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland after fleeing Wuhan, China, have been cleared to leave.

The two-week quarantine was lifted Thursday after the individuals received a clean bill of health from federal officials, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a press statement.

“It is important to know that these people being released from quarantine pose no health risk to the surrounding community, or to the communities they will be returning to,” the CDC said.

Earlier this week, 144 people were brought to JBSA-Lackland from a cruise ship quarantined while docked in Japan. That group is still under quarantine.

One person from the first influx of evacuees at Lackland was diagnosed with the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19. That person is still being treated at a local hospital, CDC officials said.

Stay on top of San Antonio news and views. Sign up for our Weekly Headlines Newsletter.