12 sent to California air base from coronavirus-stricken cruise ship now in hospitals

A dozen American passengers evacuated this week from the ill-fated Diamond Princess cruise ship are being monitored or treated at Northern California hospitals, according to federal health authorities.

Of these, four developed symptoms of the respiratory illness while quarantined at Travis Air Force Base – despite getting an earlier clear bill of health from Japanese and U.S. authorities.

The new tally, released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday, brings the tally of suspected cases in repatriated Americans to 15. So far, they only have results of Japanese test; CDC tests are pending. Some are healthy despite a positive test result. Three sick passengers were rushed on Monday from Sacramento-area hospitals to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center Medicine.

On Tuesday, officials in Napa County said two evacuees who arrived at Travis were hospitalized there; one tested positive for coronavirus and the other had symptoms of the virus, now known as COVID-19.

The two patients were being treated in isolation at Queen of the Valley Medical Center, Noel Brinkerhoff, a Napa County spokesman, told KCBS Radio.

Brinkerhoff said that health officials say there is “minimal risk of exposure” to the public. He also said the two patients were flown from Japan directly to the air base in Fairfield. Then, the two were taken about 30 miles west to the hospital in Napa.

Authorities are conducting repeat testing and monitoring the quarantined cruise passengers now at Travis Air Force Base. Some of them are being evaluated for symptoms that could indicate the virus — or another ailment, according to the California Department of Public Health.

“We were just notified that ... we will all be tested due to the high number of cases reported on the ship,” said Santa Cruz native Sarah Arana on Facebook, who remains healthy while in quarantine. “It’s been hard to detect as some symptoms are very mild. We are told it will take a couple of days to get the results and those that test positive will be transferred to a local hospital for close observation.”

A Kobe University doctor has touched off a furor with a firsthand account of the virus-stricken cruise ship, saying the protections against infection were so weak he was scared he would get sick himself, according to the Wall Street Journal. The charges by Dr. Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease specialist who has worked to tackle the Ebola virus and the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, were quickly taken up in Parliament and at the prime minister’s office.

As of Wednesday, 621 passengers were found to have the virus out of 3,011 tested.

Globally, more than 75,000 people have been confirmed infected as of Wednesday and more than 2,000 people have died, including two in Iran and a second in Hong Kong. The heart of the outbreak, and majority of those sickened, is centered in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.

“It has become increasingly clear that quarantines in China have not served to stop the spread of this virus globally, “ said Dr. Michael Mina, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in a Wednesday press briefing.

“Infectious disease people have, more and more, come to the conclusion that it is very likely that this virus will continue spreading throughout the world over time,” said Mina, who is also a member of Harvard’s Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics

“So things have shifted,” he said, “from stopping its spread in China to changing what we can do to prepare for more and more potential infections.”

Meanwhile, Santa Clara County health officials are monitoring 300 county residents who are healthy but face increased risk of acquiring the new coronavirus illness because they traveled in mainland China within the last two weeks, according to Dr. Sara Cody, county health director.

They are told to “self-quarantine,” staying home, limit contact with others and report their health status to county authorities.

“There is no evidence of any community presence of the virus, said Cody.

The two patients in Santa Clara County who were diagnosed more than two weeks ago are recovering, Cody said. But because there is not enough information about how long the infection can be transmitted after recovery, they remain in isolation, she said.

“It is a rapidly changing situation,” said Cody. “This is a new virus and a lot we don’t know.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 4:51 PM.