Update:'A whole different ballgame': Wuhan flight passengers at March Air Reserve Base under quarantine; evacuee shares experience

Health officials on Thursday said they have quarantined one of the passengers who flew into Riverside County a day earlier from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus outbreak, which has sickened nearly 8,000 people, began.

Some time Wednesday night the person attempted to leave March Air Reserve Base near Moreno Valley.

The unidentified person will now have to remain at the base for the full 14-day incubation period "or until otherwise cleared," according to Riverside County Public Health Officer Cameron Kaiser, who ordered the quarantine.

It was necessary due to "unknown risk to the public should someone leave MARB early without undergoing a full health evaluation," Kaiser added.

Specifics about exactly what happened were minimal Thursday.

"They physically tried to leave the base. It's my understanding they never left the base," said Jose Arballo Jr., senior public information specialist for the Riverside County Department of Public Health.

Local law enforcement has the authority to enforce quarantines, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Riverside County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Deputy Robyn Flores confirmed deputies are on standby and will enforce the quarantine upon request by health officials.

All other passengers from the flight remain on base and continue to undergo medical evaluations. They are not being quarantined and, as of Thursday, none have shown symptoms of the coronavirus, Arballo said.

He added that his agency initially said there were 210 passengers, but the official number is 195. He declined to say why the numbers changed.

On Wednesday, health officials said all of the passengers voluntarily agreed to be monitored on base for at least 72 hours for any virus symptoms and would not be quarantined.

Should a passenger want to leave they would be able to, authorities said at the time, but there would have to be some discussion about it first.

Rear Admiral Dr. Nancy Knight, director of the Division of Global Health Protection at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out that should one of the passengers want to leave it would not be easy since they are still on a military base.

"Any discussion around departure would be just that — a discussion," she said. "If someone demands to leave right now, that is where all of the (medical) partners ... would come together and talk about what needs to be done. This would be discussed up to the highest levels of the U.S. government and we would ensure we were making the right decision for the American people."

Coronavirus has sickened at least 7,711 people and is responsible for 170 deaths around the world.

The virus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia. Health officials think it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global emergency following a recent spike in illnesses.

Health officials said there are 98 cases of coronavirus in 18 countries outside of China, including Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the United States.

There are six U.S. cases. Patients are in Arizona, California, Illinois and Washington. All the cases involve people who have been in China.

The first case of person-to-person transmission in the U.S. involved the husband of a Chicago woman who returned from China on Jan. 13. Both are hospitalized.

Authorities said the 195 passengers at March Air Reserve Base are all U.S. citizens and most of them are State Department diplomats and their families. None of them are from Riverside County.

They were screened twice before departing Wuhan and had another evaluation during a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska before landing Wednesday in Southern California, officials said.

The passengers were bound for Ontario International Airport before being diverted to March Air Reserve Base for unspecified reasons.

"The decisions (to divert to March Air Reserve Base) had, frankly, been made at a high level of government," Dr. Chris Braden, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said during the news conference.

He added the base likely had the necessary accommodations for the passengers.

Authorities have declined to provide details about the passengers, but according to the U.S. Air Force News Service, which reported about the passengers’ presence on base, there are children among them.

Toys, coloring books, puzzles and games were handed out to children while their parents checked into rooms and prepared for health screenings.

Desert Sun reporter Colin Atagi covers crime, public safety and road and highway safety. He can be reached at Colin.Atagi@desertsun.com or follow him at @tdscolinatagi. Support local news, subscribe to The Desert Sun.

The Associated Press and USA Today contributed to this story.

Update:'A whole different ballgame': Wuhan flight passengers at March Air Reserve Base under quarantine; evacuee shares experience

Previously:Over 200 US evacuees from coronavirus epicenter begin 72-hour evaluation period at March Air Reserve Base

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