SAN ANTONIO — Travelers being quarantined in relation to the coronavirus outbreak could arrive in San Antonio as early as Thursday, according to CBS News.
Lackland Air Force Base was designated a quarantine site by the U.S. Department of Defense over the weekend. The decision is in response to the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 400 people worldwide.
In a news conference, Wednesday morning city leaders addressed the public's concerns and said the response here in San Antonio was two-fold.
According to Dr. Colleen Bridger, the assistant city manager, Lackland is preparing to be a quarantine site for government employees, but the city is making efforts to monitor other travelers coming back from China. Right now, the city says there are no cases of coronavirus at this time nor is anyone being quarantined.
City leaders say travelers coming back from China to Texas commercially will land at Dallas Forth Worth International Airport. They will be screened for symptoms and if they have signs of coronavirus, they will not be able to leave. If they do not show signs, they will be able to return to their homes and self-quarantine for 14 days. Health officials will be monitoring them.
"They will have daily check-ins with the health department of the fire department depending on how many people we having to monitor and anybody who becomes symptomatic will engage our response," Dr. Bridger said. "We don't know how many people to expect but if the last couple of days are any indication it's not going to be a large number."
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Meanwhile, Lackland is expected to provide facilities capable of housing at least 250 people on base. In a tweet on Sunday, Joint Base San Antonio stated it would house those travelers at the Gateway Inn and the Gateway Villa, two of the base hotels.
According to the CDC, those travelers are under a quarantine order that begins on the day their flight leaves Wuhan, China and will continue up to 14 days.
JBSA says the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC would monitor the individuals and they would not have any contact with the general population.
As for those who are caring for these travelers on the Lackland Air Force Base the city says they are taking every precaution necessary.
"All those folks who are serving them, taking care of them, transporting them for medical care all of them have recommended airborne precautions," Dr. Anita Kurian the assistant director of Metro Health said.
"So they will be using gloves, masks, gowns. Nobody is coming in contact with them, with all these standards airborne precautions in place."
On Wednesday JBSA held a town hall meeting to address the public's concerns. The media was not invited to the meeting but JBSA officials say the CDC will provide the local media an update on Thursday morning.
Wednesday, St. Mary's School of Law announced it had suspended its study-abroad program to China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak
