Updated
Feb. 17, 2020, 9:04 a.m. ET 10 minutes ago
Coronavirus Updates: Evacuated Americans Carried Virus From Cruise Ship to Airplane
Fourteen passengers, who were believed to be well before they were evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan on Monday, were found to be infected before boarding a charter plane to the United States.
Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship arrived early Monday at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/w...#link-1fade8c5
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51524460
American officials learned evacuees were infected shortly before boarding a chartered flight.
Fourteen Americans who tested positive for the coronavirus were evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan on Monday and flown to the United States, where they will be placed in isolation and receive medical attention.
The passengers were among more than 300 Americans aboard a cruise ship that has been quarantined in Yokohama for more than 10 days. U.S. officials initially said that they would not allow infected people to board the evacuation flights, but they appeared to reverse that decision early Monday.
“During the evacuation process, after passengers had disembarked the ship and initiated transport to the airport, U.S. officials received notice that 14 passengers, who had been tested 2-3 days earlier, had tested positive for COVID-19,” the State Department and Department of Health and Human Services said in a joint statement, referring to the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
The two planes chartered to bring the Americans back landed early Monday at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif.
The infected passengers — who officials said were asymptomatic and “fit to fly” — were moved into a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft, where they were to be isolated and monitored.
All the cruise ship passengers, including those who initially tested negative for the virus, will be placed in a 14-day quarantine.
Those who develop symptoms or test positive will be sent to “an appropriate location for continued isolation and care,” the statement added.