Republished from Times of San Diego
SAN DIEGO — More than 300 passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship had arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar by Wednesday to begin a mandatory 14-day coronavirus quarantine.
Approximately 270 cruise ship evacuees arrived at the base Wednesday afternoon, joining 42 passengers who were flow in Tuesday night. More could be coming, according to media reports.
The ship, which had roughly 3,500 people aboard, was held off San Francisco after 21 passengers and crew tested positive for coronavirus. Authorities finally allowed it to dock in Oakland on Monday.
Tuesday’s group of 42 Southern California residents who were aboard the ship arrived at MCAS Miramar around 9:30 p.m. on a flight from Oakland to begin their quarantine, during which they will be monitored to determine if they develop any symptoms.
Col. Charles Dockery, commanding officer MCAS Miramar, sent a letter to Marines, sailors and their families explaining the base’s role.
“The broad concept of our support will be the same as our previous efforts,” he wrote. “As with the previous mission, all passengers entering quarantine will have been deemed asymptomatic by health care professionals. Passengers will remain quarantined throughout the 14-day period and there will be no contact with DOD personnel.”
Other California residents from the cruise ship will be housed at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento.
Cruise ship passengers who are residents of other states were being taken to Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in Texas or Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia.
This is the second time Miramar has been used as a quarantine facility due to coronavirus. More than 200 people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the outbreak — were housed at the facility last month. Two of those people eventually tested positive for the virus, but they were hospitalized and have since recovered and been released.
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Times of San Diego, which compiled this story from staff and wire reports, trades news with San Diego Jewish World under auspices of the San Diego Online News Association.