San Antonio loses court fight to extend quarantine for coronavirus evacuees

Click through to see a full timeline of the coronavirus in San Antonio. Click through to see a full timeline of the coronavirus in San Antonio. Photo: William Luther Photo: William Luther Image 1 of / 95 Caption Close San Antonio loses court fight to extend quarantine for coronavirus evacuees 1 / 95 Back to Gallery

The city of San Antonio went into court Monday and unsuccessfully sought a temporary restraining order to stop the federal government from releasing more than 120 coronavirus evacuees from quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. In its court filing, the city argued that allowing those quarantined to leave Monday, as scheduled, would threaten public safety. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez denied the request, noting that the federal government’s current determination that a 14-day quarantine and two negative tests for the virus are “sufficient to prevent transmission or spread of COVID-19.” The filing came after the city declared a local state of disaster and public health emergency because an evacuee from China who tested "weakly positive" for the coronavirus following her release from quarantine visited the North Star Mall before returning to isolation. The visit triggered the mall to shutdown Monday for a deep cleaning. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio, Bexar County in battle with the CDC over evacuees More than 120 evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship will be released from quarantine Tuesday through a modified protocol The state of emergency, which also allows the city to request state resources from the governor, will last until Mar. 9.

The evacuee was out in the San Antonio community for slightly over 12 hours after she was released from quarantine, said Anita Kurian, assistant director of the Metropolitan Health District.

After her release, the evacuee checked into a Holiday Inn hotel near the airport. She took a hotel shuttle to North Star Mall, one of the region's busiest retail outlets, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Kurian said.

READ MORE: Timeline of where coronavirus patient went in San Antonio during release from quarantine

Officials said the evacuee was browsing and spent very little time in stores or talking to anyone. She spent much of her time at the mall eating alone at the food court.

"We are making every effort to identify any exposures at the mall and based on what we have at this time, those exposures are pretty low risk," Kurian said.

North Star Mall announced Monday afternoon that the shopping center would be closed for 24 hours, out of an abundance of caution, for a deep cleaning.

Thus far, Metro Health has identified 18 people at the Texas Center for Infectious Disease and three people at the hotel as potential exposures. They are all considered low risk except for two health workers at TCID who were in contact with the evacuee and are considered "medium risk."

The patient had been in isolation while being treated in a San Antonio medical facility for several weeks after being flown from Wuhan, China, to the United States aboard a State Department-chartered plane.

She arrived at Lackland along with 90 other evacuees on Feb. 7. She was the only person infected from that group, and the remaining were released from quarantine Feb. 21.

"At the time of discharge from the facility, the patient was asymptomatic and met all of CDC’s criteria for release — resolution of any symptoms and two consecutive sets of negative test results, collected more than 24 hours apart," officials for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday. "Following the patient’s release, results of a subsequent sample were received and determined to be weakly positive. Out of an abundance of caution, CDC decided to bring the individual back into isolation at a local medical facility."

The emergency proclamation Nirenberg signed Monday ordered 122 evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who were scheduled to be released Monday, to stay at JBSA-Lackland.

"As mayor of this city, I find it totally unacceptable the CDC would release a patient prior to receiving all test results and potentially expose the public to this harm," Nirenberg said.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

The CDC recommends common preventive measures to avoid the spread of coronavirus and other respiratory diseases. They include:

Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

Not touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

Staying home when you are sick.

Covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throwing it in the trash.

Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

The CDC says you should not wear a face mask to protect yourself from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Masks should be used only by those who show symptoms of coronavirus to help prevent the spread of the disease to others.

Taylor Pettaway and Madalyn Mendoza contributed to this story.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read him on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy