U.S. health officials are imposing a 14-day quarantine on Americans who were evacuated from China’s coronavirus outbreak epicenter in Wuhan.
More than 200 U.S. citizens who were evacuated from China earlier this week were reportedly being held at a U.S. military base, according to officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The two week quarantine period is being applied as officials at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned that the virus can take up to 14 days for symptoms to manifest.
The U.S. evacuees landed at March Air Reserve Base, near Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday.
Those evacuees were previously told they would be released after a shorter, 3-day hold, so long as they tested negative for the virus.
CDC officials told the WSJ that they advised this extended quarantine method after reports that an apparently healthy person in Germany transmitted the virus before their own symptoms began.
China has placed travel restrictions on Wuhan and other cities throughout the Hubei province, in an effort to stop the disease, which has already spread to several countries. In total, an estimated 56 million people in China have been placed under travel restrictions.
The U.S. evacuees were allowed to leave Wuhan despite active travel restrictions in effect at the time.
Other countries have also reportedly pursued efforts to bring back their citizens stuck under China’s quarantines.
The French government has flown back hundreds of its own citizens previously stuck in Wuhan. A U.K. chartered plane carrying 110 U.K. citizens and citizens of other countries also landed in Britain on Friday.
