American evacuated from China quarantined at California base

RIVERSIDE » One of the Americans evacuated from a Chinese city at the center of a new virus outbreak was quarantined after trying to leave a military base where the group is being monitored for signs of illness, California officials said Thursday.

The individual was one of 195 Americans held at the base and being watched for symptoms of the virus that has sickened thousands and killed more than 170 people. Most cases are in China, but the outbreak has spread to more than a dozen countries, and the World Health Organization declared a global emergency Thursday.

Officials in Riverside County ordered the person, who indicated a desire to leave March Air Reserve Base and tried to do so Wednesday night, quarantined for two weeks unless medically cleared sooner, said Jose Arballo Jr., a spokesman for the county’s public health agency.

It can take up to 14 days for someone who is infected to develop symptoms, health officials believe. None of the Americans housed at base have shown symptoms of the virus since their arrival, Arballo said.

He did not identify the person and declined to provide details about how they tried to leave the base 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

The order was issued “as a result of the unknown risk to the public” because the person had not undergone a complete health evaluation, the agency said in a statement.

After the plane chartered by the U.S. government arrived at the base Wednesday with the evacuees from the Chinese city of Wuhan, federal officials dodged questions from reporters on whether people would be allowed to leave before a three-day testing and monitoring period was up.

They said only that officials would have “discussions” if any of them asked to leave the base before three days.