Military installations in Hawaii, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, New York, Washington state, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Michigan, and California expect to serve as quarantine facilities for evacuees from Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 600 so far.
The request from the Department of Health and Human Services asked that the Department of Defense identify installations near 11 major airports that could house additional evacuees if HHS facilities become filled. These installations are "tertiary locations," a memo from Secretary of Defense Mark Esper read — meaning the HHS has a first resort and a second resort for housing evacuees before deferring to the DoD installations for help.
These third-string installations include:
- JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI (HNL)
- Great Lakes Training Center Navy Base, IL (ORD)
- Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, TX (DFW)
- March ARB, CA (LAX)
- Travis AFB, CA (SFO)
- Dobbins ARB, GA (ATL)
- Fort Hamilton, NY (JFK)
- Naval Base Kitsap, WA (SEA)
- Joint Base Anacostia, DC (IAD)
- Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ (EWR)
- Fort Custer Training Center (DTW)
Each of these installations has agreed to house up to 20 people in quarantine and provide office space for several HHS personnel through Feb. 22, 2020.
"DoD personnel will not be in direct contact with the evacuees and will minimize contact with personnel supporting the evacuees," the memo reads. "Should routine monitoring of the evacuees identify ill individuals, HHS has procedures in place to transport them to a local civilian medical facility. HHS will also ensure that no evacuated personnel are transferred to any DoD installation if they are infected or ill."
These installations are in addition to the resources the DoD offered the HHS last Saturday. Esper approved a request from the HHS for the use of military facilities to accommodate 1,000 quarantined individuals on installations in various states. On Wednesday of this week, 350 passengers landed at Travis Air Force Base. The next day, 70 Americans were flown into Omaha, Neb., and quarantined at the nearby Nebraska National Guard training base. An additional 250 were expected to evacuate today and be flown to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
Pentagon approves using military bases to quarantine 1,000
A military installation was also the site of the first quarantine center after 200 Americans were evacuated from Wuhan on Jan. 29 to March Air Force Base in southern California. Those evacuees are reportedly carrying out their days in boxing lessons, accounting classes, and Zumba workouts, according to the Washington Post.
So far, the United States is aware of 23 cases of coronavirus in American citizens, including 11 on a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan, according to NBC News. Worldwide, an estimated 31,400 have been infected by the disease. In China, where the virus first began, at least 636 have died — including a Dr. Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who attempted to warn authorities about the outbreak who died from coronavirus today.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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