Coronavirus: second confirmed case among evacuees at San Diego quarantine station, brings total US cases to 14
- New confirmed case at San Diego’s Marine Corps Air Station Miramar arrived from Wuhan on Friday
- Health authorities diagnosed a previous case on the same military base earlier this week
The person had arrived at San Diego’s Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Friday, one of hundreds of Americans the US government began expatriating from the contagion’s epicentre at the end of January. Those evacuated have been spread between several US military bases, where they have been placed under 14 days of quarantine.
News of the California case came just days after authorities positively diagnosed another evacuee who was also under quarantine on the Miramar base with the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease now known officially as Covid-19.
In a statement, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there was no epidemiological connection between the two individuals, who had arrived on separate flights and had been housed at different facilities on the base.
“At this time there is no indication of person-to-person spread of this virus at the quarantine facility, but CDC will carry out a thorough investigation as part its current response strategy to detect and contain any cases of infection with this virus,” said Chris Braden, the CDC’s on-site team lead.
A third evacuee based at Miramar, who has not been diagnosed with the coronavirus but had presented symptoms “warranting further observation”, is currently in the care of the hospital at University of California, San Diego, where the two confirmed cases are also being treated.
