Lackland AFB Selected as Coronavirus Quarantine Site for Repatriated U.S. Citizens from China
February 1, 2020 - San Antonio
This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This virus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Article By: Jade Esteban Estrada - Writer, San Antonio Sentinel
Although there are no reported cases of the coronavirus in San Antonio, Lackland Air Force Base will soon become one of four locations in the United States that will feel the impact of the outbreak.
Saturday afternoon, the City of San Antonio sent out a press release stating that Lackland Air Force Base, Joint Base San Antonio will participate in the evacuation of United States citizens from China to U.S. military bases. Although these repatriated individuals reportedly have no symptoms of the coronavirus, the use of this federal quarantine is a precautionary measure due to the potential risk of spreading the virus.
City Manager Eric Walsh (left) and City Attorney Andy Segovia at a San Antonio City Council meeting. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
This outbreak of pneumonia of unknown causes in Wuhan City, Hubei, China was initially reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019, according to an interoffice memorandum from City Manager Erik Walsh. Chinese health authorities identified the cause of the outbreak as a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). It was originally thought to be a virus spread from animal-to-person, though there is now evidence that person-to-person spread is happening. Infections with 2019-nCoV are being reported in a growing number of international locations, including the United States.
“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,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “We have been told that these individuals have no symptoms of the virus and pose no risk to our community.”
RELATED: Coronavirus Evacuees to Arrive at Lackland Friday
“This novel coronavirus has been declared a public health emergency by both the World Health Organization and the President of the United States and while this situation poses a very serious global public health threat, based on what we know at this time, we believe the risk to us here in the San Antonio community is currently low,” said Walsh in a memo to the mayor and members of San Antonio’s city council.
Walsh added that he has been informed that Lackland Air Force Base is fully capable of supporting the evacuees for the duration of the quarantine. According to a tweet by Jonathan Rath Hoffman, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, the other three approved zones in the U.S. are the 168th Regiment, Regional Training Institute in Fort Carson, Colorado; Travis Air Force Base in California; and the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California.
City officials hope that San Antonians will be comforted by the extra precautions that are being taken by federal, state and local health officials. The Metro Health Department will continue to monitor the situation and exercise an abundance of caution.
Jade Esteban Estrada covers politics for the San Antonio Sentinel. Email him at jade@sasentinel.com.