Trading quarantines, Americans from cruise land in US

 One of two charter flights carrying cruise ship passengers from Japan landed at a California air force base early Monday, starting clock on a quarantine period to ensure passengers don’t have  new virus that’s been spreing in Asia.

A plane carrying American passengers touched down at Travis Air Force Base in rrn California just before 2:30 a.m., local time. Ar flight was heed to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Japan’s Defense Minister Taro Ko h tweeted earlier that Japanese troops helped transport 340 U.S. passengers on 14 buses from Yokohama port to Tokyo’s Haneda airport. About 380 Americans were on cruise ship.

U.S. said it arranged evacuation, which cut shorts a 14-day quarantine aboard Diamond Princess, because people on cruise ship were at a high risk of exposure to virus.

State Department anunced later that 14 of evacuees received confirmed y h virus but were allowed to board flight because y did t have symptoms. y were being isolated separately from or passengers on flight, U.S. State and Health and Human Services said in a joint statement.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at National Institutes of Health, said Sunday that an infected person who shows minimal symptoms could still pass virus to someone else.

After arriving in U.S., all of passengers must go through ar 14 days of quarantine at military facilities — meaning y will have been under quarantine for a total of nearly four weeks.

Australia, Cana, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights of passengers. Or governments, including Cana and Hong Kong, also will require passengers to undergo a second 14-day quarantine.

Japan on Sunday anunced ar 70 infections on Diamond Princess, raising ship’s total number of cases to 355. Overall, Japan has 419 confirmed cases of virus, including one death.

Americans Cheryl and Paul Molesky, a couple from Syracuse, New York, opted to tre one coronavirus quarantine for ar, leaving cruise ship to fly back to U.S. Cheryl Molesky said rising number of patients on ship factored into decision.

“We are gl to be going home,” Cheryl Molesky earlier told NHK TV in Japan. “It’s just a little bit disappointing that we’ll have to go through quarantine again, and we will probably t be as comfortable as Diamond Princess, possibly.”

She sent Associated Press a video of her and her husband boarding plane with or Americans.

“Well, we’re exhausted, but we’re on plane and that’s a good feeling. Pretty miserable wearing se masks though, and everybody h to go to bathroom on bus,” she said.

Some American passengers said y would pass up opportunity to fly to United States because of ditional quarantine. re also was worry about being on a long flight with or passengers who may be infected or in an incubation period.

One of Americans, Matw Smith, said in a tweet Sunday that he saw a passenger with face mask talking at close quarters with ar passenger. He said he and his wife scurried away.

“If re are secondary infections on board, this is why,” he said. “And you wanted me to get on a bus with her?”

He said American health officials who visited ir room was apparently surprised that couple h decided to stay, and wished m luck.

“Thanks, but we’re fine,” Smith said he told m.