235 are now quarantined at S.A. base
So far, none of new evacuees at Lackland’s on-base hotel have tested positive for virus
SAN ANTONIO — The Americans had already been trapped for days in a nightmare, quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan that had become a hotbed for transmission of the novel coronavirus. Their evacuation to the U.S. on Monday brought relief, but also weariness: They were finally on solid ground, but now they faced two more weeks of quarantine in San Antonio.
With the 145 new evacuees, the federal quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland grew to 235 people. The new group was among 328 Americans who were evacuated on two planes Sunday from the Diamond Princess, which had become host to the largest cluster of coronavirus cases outside China.
So far, none of the new evacuees at the on-base hotel at Lackland have tested positive for the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19. They are separated from the evacuees who arrived earlier this month, according to a statement from city officials.
Before they left the ship, all the
passengers were asymptomatic. But as the evacuees were preparing to get on the planes, test results came back positive for 14 of them, blindsiding U.S. officials.
Seven of those infected ended up on the federally chartered flight that landed at 3:50 a.m. at Lackland, Dr. William Walters, managing director for operational medicine at the State Department’s Bureau of Medical Services, said during a call with reporters.
But those sick passengers, who were isolated from the other passengers and crew in a containment area on the plane, were subsequently taken to Omaha, Neb., to be treated at University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Other Diamond Princess evacuees were brought to Travis AFB in California. That plane carried the other seven people infected with coronavirus. Some of them were transported to area hospitals, while others flew with their spouses to Nebraska to receive treatment there.
The arrival of new evacuees in San Antonio reflects the rapidly shifting conditions created by the outbreak, for Americans
stranded abroad in areas vulnerable to the coronavirus and for the federal employees tasked with caring for them upon their return. Previously, representatives with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who are overseeing the Lackland quarantine, had said they had not been told to expect additional evacuees at a high risk of carrying the disease.
During the flight to Lackland, two people were isolated with a fever, Walters said. Three others on the flight to Travis also showed symptoms prior to landing in California. It remains unclear whether they have the virus or something like the flu.
A statement released by JBSA-Lackland indicated that the two symptomatic passengers who landed in San Antonio reboarded the plane, which departed for Nebraska at 7 a.m.
“Passengers that developed symptoms in flight and those with positive test results were isolated on the flight and did not remain in San Antonio,” the statement said. “They were transported to an appropriate location out of state for continued isolation and care.”
Federal officials continue to monitor the 90 earlier evacuees at Lackland, who have been held there since
Feb. 7 after being evacuated from the outbreak’s epicenter in Wuhan, China. Last week, one of those evacuees was diagnosed with coronavirus and is now being treated in isolation at Methodist Hospital | Texsan.
The quarantine period for the first group of evacuees is scheduled to end Thursday.
Lackland’s quarantine space is now almost full. Federal officials have said the lodging being used to house the evacuees can accommodate up to 250 people.
The new group of evacuees from the cruise ship had been stuck aboard the Diamond Princess since earlier this month when a person onboard was diagnosed with the virus. In the ensuing days, the number of cases has risen to more than 450, including nearly 100 confirmed diagnoses announced by the Japanese Health Ministry on Monday alone.
The situation grew so dire that the State Department arranged evacuation flights for the Americans onboard. Officials with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo previously said infected people would not be allowed on the flights. In accordance with that rule, the passengers were medically evaluated by American infectious disease
physicians before they were allowed to disembark from the ship.
“We felt like we had very experienced hands in evaluating and caring for these patients,” said Dr. Bob Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response with the Health and Human Services Department.
But the evacuation plan was thrown into question after it had already begun. By the time officials were notified that some passengers had positive test results, the evacuated group had been loaded onto around 15 buses for the 40minute drive to the airport.
There, the infected people were ushered into the back of each modified cargo plane, where isolation areas were draped in plastic, while federal officials discussed how to proceed.
Ultimately, Walters said, keeping the infected passengers on the planes was “the safest place for them.” There, “they posed no additional risk to passengers or crew,” he said.
“This is the meat and potatoes of consular affairs,” he said. “This is the State Department’s primary responsibility … the well-being of American citizens overseas.”
As federal employees grapple with the new batch
of evacuees, state health officials have been preparing for the prospect of more coronavirus diagnoses in San Antonio.
Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said the Texas Center for Infectious Disease, a 75-bed state-run hospital for tuberculosis patients located near Brooks City Base, is ready to receive patients there if necessary. Because TB is also highly contagious, the facility is already equipped with plenty of negative pressure rooms, which have been used to isolate coronavirus patients at other hospitals.
It also has a separate wing of about 20 beds where coronavirus patients could be housed apart from TCID patients and staff, Van Deusen added.
“This is a resource we have, and its mission is to treat tuberculosis. This is a bit of a change from that,” he said. “It seemed like something that TCID would be able to accommodate, that kind of patient.”
He said the facility would be appropriate for isolating individuals suspected of having coronavirus and those who may have received a diagnosis but do not have severe symptoms.