ASSOCIATED PRESS – San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base is among four announced planned quarantine centers for victims and possible or suspected victim’s of China’s Wuhan coronavirus. The others are in north and south California and Colorado. The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Mark Esper has approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services for the possible use of military facilities to accommodate 1,000 people who may have to be quarantined upon arrival from overseas due to the coronavirus.
Defense Department statement said HHS would be responsible for all care, transportation and security of the evacuees. More than 11,900 people have been infected globally, the vast majority of them in China. Americans returning from the Chinese province at the center of the outbreak will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine.
As of Saturday afternoon, China announced 294 deaths from the deadly virus, and about 12 thousand confirmed cases additional. Researchers say they believe the number of those infected in China alone is closer to 75 thousand. Social media videos making the rounds appear to show beleaguered health care workers in a Chinese hospital attempting to tape together plastic bags to use as protective gear; many basic supplies used to treat patients are reported running thin or completely depleted.
The U S has 8 confirmed cases; the latest announced Saturday morning as a man in Boston who had returned from a trip to China. New York City has a 9th suspected case; the patient is hospitalized, and test samples are being sent to the CDC to determine if this victim also has the Wuhan corona virus.
(Copyright, WBAP/KLIF 2020)
