SAN DIEGO — A second round of people affected by the COVID-19 evacuations are getting ready to go back home after being quarantined at MCAS Miramar.
More than 60 more people will be leaving the base on Thursday after being medically screened for the coronavirus. They were on board the second plane that landed in San Diego carrying passengers from Wuhan, China about two weeks ago.
On Wednesday, over 160 people who were cleared to leave the base in the first group shared their emotional moments with News 8 when they arrived on buses at San Diego International Airport.
“I’m happy, I’m excited to go home,” said one passenger as she got off the bus at the airport.
The 166 Americans, who fled the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, took buses from the base after being screened one final time and expressed their gratitude to all the people who took care of them during their stay at Miramar. They said they were also relieved to finally be free.
A couple of men were seen getting a fresh pizza at the airport before they even went inside to get on their flights. News 8 spoke with people going to Minnesota and Ohio. One evacuee returning to Salt Lake City said she’s still going to take extra precautions.
“I’ll stay two weeks at home, just to be extra cautious, then go back to normal life,” she said.
A few people stayed in San Diego where friends and family picked them up. While most of the other evacuees have flown home.
Two of the evacuees tested positive for COVID-19, one from each plane that flew those evacuees to the base. The pair are in isolation at UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest.
The second plane carried 65 passengers, 64 of them will be going back home Thursday.
Acting "out of an abundance of caution," San Diego County officials last week declared a local health emergency in response to concerns about COVID-19, but they insisted the move does not indicate an increased risk of contracting the disease locally.
"Let us be clear, this does not mean there is any increased risk to the general public, in fact it is quite the opposite," county health officer Dr. Wilma Wooten said.
She and county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher both said the local emergency declaration was being made "out of an abundance of caution," and to ensure the county has all the resources needed to response to the illness.
The Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting Wednesday to consider extending the declaration for 30 days.
Worldwide, there have been more than 73,000 reported cases of the disease, which has killed more than 1,800 people, mostly in China.