China evacuees cleared to leave US base quarantine

A group of 195 evacuees was cleared Tuesday to end a two-week quarantine at a Southern California military base after flying out of China during a deadly viral outbreak, officials said. Authorities say the quarantine ends Tuesday for those held at March Air Reserve Base. None have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which has claimed more than 1,000 lives worldwide.

Fear of the disease has led to “unacceptable” treatment of others who work at March Air Reserve Base, Dr. Cameron Kaiser, public health officer for Riverside County, said in an open letter to the community on Monday.

The evacuees, which include U.S. State Department workers and their families, were isolated from base personnel and weren't permitted to leave a fenced quarantine area, Kaiser said.

Among those leaving the base Tuesday in Riverside County was Consul General Jamie Fouss. He described how they had to check passengers against the manifest on the chartered plane in China, check bags and conduct health screenings before taking off for Alaska and later California.

The quarantine, he said, wasn't as challenging as he thought it could be, adding the group stayed busy with evacuees running Zumba and art classes and activities for the children.

In the United States, there have been only 13 confirmed cases, including seven in California, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health officials.

Hundreds of evacuees remain under quarantine at other bases in California, Texas and Nebraska, and only one has tested positive for the virus. That person, who initially tested negative, is now in isolation at a San Diego hospital.