Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland announced on Saturday it had been selected by the Department of Health and Human Services to house people arriving from China who are at risk of being infected with coronavirus.
At least 250 of an estimated 1000 evacuees could be housed at Lackland while a two week quarantine period plays out. Lackland tweeted that base personnel will not be directly in contact with the evacuees, and evacuees will not have access to any base location other than where they’re being housed.
1) In support of the Department of Health and Human Service’s request to the DOD to provide facilities capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms through February 29, 2020, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was selected. Base officials are actively coordinating this— JointBaseSanAntonio (@JBSA_Official) February 2, 2020
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg released a statement saying, in part, that those quarantined at Lackland pose no threat to people in the city. His complete statement follows:
“We were notified that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense have decided to evacuate American citizens from China and quarantine them at U. S. military installations, including Lackland Air Force Base. We have been told that these individuals have no symptoms of the virus and pose no risk to our community.
We should all be comforted by the extra precautions being taken by federal, state and local health officials.
We do not currently have any individuals diagnosed with the coronavirus here in San Antonio, and our Metro Health Department will continue to monitor the situation and exercise an abundance of caution.”
Both the World Health Organization and the US Department of Health and Human Services have declared public health emergencies related to this new, fast moving coronavirus. As of Sunday, Feb. 2, the coronavirus outbreak has infected more than 14,300 people globally and killed at least 305.
There are nine confirmed cases in the United States. None of them are in Texas.
After concerns broke out on social media about the quarantine, JBSA-Lackland officials announced they would host a town hall. The details of that event, along with an FAQ sheet, are slated to be released Monday afternoon.
#JBSAupdate 1/2 – Thank you all for being concerned and engaged with the ongoing HHS support at JBSA.
We have captured your comments and concerns, and are in the process of creating a “fact sheet/FAQ” to provide a detailed response to all of your questions.— JointBaseSanAntonio (@JBSA_Official) February 3, 2020
Bonnie Petrie can be reached at Bonnie@TPR.org and on Twitter at @kbonniepetrie.
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