Midway through a 14-day coronavirus quarantine on a sprawling Southern California military base, Randy Stockstill says he and his young family are anxious to return to their Rhode Island home.

But speaking by phone Tuesday, his three-month-old son crying in the background, Stockstill said the 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, last week are making the best of the situation, settling into a daily pattern that involves regular health checkups and group activities that include everything from kick-boxing and Zumba classes to mah-jong lessons.

Last weekend, authorities even threw an outdoor Super Bowl viewing party for them that included giant screens, a barbecue and beer.

“They’ve gone above and beyond to make us comfortable,” he told the Star. “While we’re ready to go home, we understand we have to be here for the better public good.”

Canadian government officials are undoubtedly turning to their American counterparts for advice as they prepare to send a charter plane into Wuhan to repatriate Canadians stranded in the Chinese city that has been under lockdown due to a deadly outbreak of a new strain of the coronavirus.

A government letter sent to Canadians in Wuhan said they should be prepared to arrive at the airport Wednesday evening for a Thursday morning departure. All passengers will be screened for the virus before being allowed on the plane.

Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters this week the government will foot the bill for getting Canadians home. “When it comes to cost, we will assume the costs for repatriation from Wuhan to Trenton,” he said.

Upon their return, the Canadian evacuees will be quarantined at Canadian Forces Base in Trenton for 14 days. Health officials have said current evidence suggests symptoms may present themselves up to 14 days after exposure to the virus.

Television cameras rolled last Wednesday morning as a U.S. government-chartered flight carrying the 195 repatriated Americans landed at March Air Reserve Base east of Los Angeles. People in white biohazard suits helped escort passengers from the plane to waiting buses.

That first day, the evacuees were asked to submit to mouth and nose swabs, as well as blood tests, Stockstill said. They were then placed in simple hotel-style barracks on the base. He said about half the evacuees are wearing masks, though officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told them the protective gear wasn’t necessary if they didn’t have symptoms.

“We try to make it as comfortable as possible. Obviously there are limitations. The hope is they feel comfortable enough that they can relax,” said Jose Arballo Jr., a spokesperson for Riverside County Public Health, the health authority helping to support the CDC, which issued the quarantine order.

“All the reports we’ve gotten, they really seemed to calm down once they got the word the federal authorities had instituted the 14-day quarantine. They seemed to be at least going, ‘OK at least we know what’s going on, and how long we’re going to be here.’ ”

Local and federal health officials have been holding daily morning briefings that give evacuees the opportunity to ask questions, he added.

“I haven’t heard anything of anyone screaming and yelling ... The best way to combat the fear and anxiety is to provide information to the public and media so they understand.”

On Tuesday morning, Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County’s public health officer, tweeted a press release indicating that a child being housed at the base had developed a fever Monday night and was taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution.

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Stockstill, 38, who was celebrating the Lunar New Year in Hubei province with his wife, Ping, and their two children, Myles, 3, and Maxwell, three months, said his family had originally planned to return home from their trip in late January. He said they were grateful to get seats on the plane — for which they have to reimburse the government $4,400 — and were happy to be back on U.S. soil.

He added that he and his wife were actually “relieved” when officials announced the quarantine was being expanded from three to 14 days. “We didn’t want to get sent home early and be, like, pariahs in the community,” he said.

“It’ll prove beyond a shadow of a doubt we’re not a risk.”

Every day the evacuees have to go to a room where health professionals check for symptoms and take their temperatures using forehead thermometers. They’re also required to check their own temperatures daily using armpit thermometers and record the results in a written log.

The county has also set up a 24/7 mobile clinic on the base to address the evacuees’ other medical needs, including chronic illnesses.

Other than that, they’re free to do as they please within the perimeter. Meals, which have included pasta, salads, burritos and bacon and eggs, are served on plastic to-go containers, Stockstill said.

Outside groups have donated toys, puzzles and games to keep the handful of children on the base occupied.

While Stockstill and his family mostly stay indoors because of the baby, other evacuees have taken advantage of the outdoor courtyard to go jogging and do other exercises — with some even taking selfies, Arballo said.

Among those appearing to take things in stride was Jarred Evans, an American professional football player in Wuhan playing with a local team when the outbreak happened. Over the weekend, under clear blue skies, a relaxed-looking Evans recorded a video of himself getting ready for the Super Bowl party.

“Just getting ready to have some fun, we’ve got some bets going on here,” he said in the video, which was shared with Buzzfeed News.

Evans told ABC News that the evacuees have forged new friendships and while some have chosen not to wear protective gear, he’ll continue to wear his.

“I’m still wearing my mask and gloves, because I want to make sure that I’m 100 per cent clear of any kind of infection.”

With files from The Canadian Press

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