SAN DIEGO — Marine Corps Air Station Miramar is expected to house approximately 250 American citizens arriving on a charter flight from Wuhan, China. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is overseeing a temporary, 14-day federal quarantine for the evacuees from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
Marines spent the weekend preparing the Consolidated Bachelor Quarters (CBQ), which is usually used as a temporary place for military members in transit. The facility has 250 beds spread across 150 rooms. Military officials say if they need more rooms, they can also use Miramar Inn, a the hotel on base.
"We're doing everything that we can to make sure they're comfortable and well taken care of during the quarantine," 2nd Lt Shawn Doublet said.
The base recently released the video footage below of where the U.S. citizens would be staying.
HHS stressed Americans on the flight are considered healthy. They will be screened before departing Wuhan and closely monitored while on board. Once at Miramar, they will undergo screening twice day. Anyone showing symptoms of coronavirus will be immediately taken to an area hospital, which is prepared to treat them.
Passengers from the flight will be isolated from the rest of the base. MCAS Mirarmar expects the quarantine will not impact operations.
The exact arrival of the flight has not been determined. San Diego resident Ken Burnett, whose wife and children are in Wuhan, said his family is scheduled to fly out at 10 p.m. Tuesday on a flight chartered by the U.S. government. He did not know if his family would end up at MCAS Miramar or another military base.
Burnett said they will have to reimburse the government $1,100 per person for the cost of the flight.
Last week, HHS requested the Department of Defense to provide a list of facilities capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms through Feb. 29.
HHS selected MCAS Miramar along with Travis Air Force Base in Northern California; the 168th Regiment, Regional Training Institute, in Fort Carson, Colorado; and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
Leadership at Miramar encouraged personnel and families at the base to support the effort in a letter sent out Monday morning. Officials are working on a plan to coordinate donations.
HHS stressed everyone on the plane is considered healthy and there is an extremely low risk to the public because of the efforts underway to quarantine those at greatest risk to spread coronavirus.
The Chinese government is keeping Wuhan on lockdown as it attempts to contain the deadly virus. Foreign governments are allowed to charter flights to evacuate citizens.
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 14-day mandatory quarantine order for 195 passengers who were flown to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County from Wuhan.
So far, no one has shown symptoms of the virus. Once the quarantine is completed, the passengers will be allowed to return to their hometowns.
Commercial flights to other parts of China are continuing. The Department of Homeland Security warned airline passengers Sunday that flights may get rerouted if officials discover mid-flight that someone on board has been in China in the last 14 days and was not subjected to enhanced screening at one of eight designated airports, including LAX.
As of Monday, there were more than 17,000 cases of coronavirus worldwide, including 11 in the U.S. Three new cases were detected in Northern California over the weekend.
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According to Tijuana's El Universal newspaper, the last flight from Beijing to Tijuana arrived last week. The route was suspended until May.