American passengers evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan disembark Monday morning, Feb. 17, 2020 from a Kalitta Air flight at Kelly Field. The passengers had been quarantined on the cruise ship as part of coronavirus control measures.
lessAmerican passengers evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan disembark Monday morning, Feb. 17, 2020 from a Kalitta Air flight at Kelly Field. The passengers had been quarantined on the cruise ship as part of
... more Photo: William LutherAmerican passengers evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan disembark Monday morning, Feb. 17, 2020 from a Kalitta Air flight at Kelly Field. The passengers had been quarantined on the cruise ship as part of coronavirus control measures.
lessAmerican passengers evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan disembark Monday morning, Feb. 17, 2020 from a Kalitta Air flight at Kelly Field. The passengers had been quarantined on the cruise ship as part of
... more Photo: William LutherPhotos show evacuees from quarantined cruise liner landing in San Antonio
An unknown number of novel coronoavirus evacuees from Japan arrived in San Antonio early Monday morning to be quarantined at JBSA-Lackland.
The evacuees come from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been docked in Japan under quarantine since Feb. 5. Out of the ship's 3,700 passengers, about 400 Americans on board with about 40 already taken off the ship, showing symptoms.
This will be the second set of quarantined Americans to come to Lackland since the novel coronavirus outbreak started in China earlier this year.
The passengers on board the cruise ship were docked in Yokohama, Japan, being monitored for symptoms, with about 335 now diagnosed with novel coronavirus as of Sunday.
READ ALSO: Unknown number of American evacuees from quarantined cruise liner in Japan coming to JBSA-Lackland
The passengers coming to Lackland have all been screened already for signs of the virus and are anticipated to be screened again upon exiting the plane, said a spokesperson from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No one showing signs of the disease were allowed on the U.S-bound flights, and those that were on the flight were continually monitored throughout.
Those coming to Lackland will be quarantined at the base for two weeks and monitored.
"Our team is prepared to provide the same lodging support for the quarantine in the same facilities we provided DHHS and the CDC earlier this month," JBSA officials said Sunday. "The health and safety of the men, women and families living and working on JBSA-Lackland and in the San Antonio community is our number one priority."
Some of the evacuees were also sent to Travis AFB in California for the quarantine. The additional 14-day quarantine is being set up because of the "degree of transmissibility on that cruise ship is essentially akin to being in a hot spot," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday on CBS.
The CDC said the U.S. Department of State decided to bring the Americans home to reduce the burden on the Japanese health care system and reduce the risk of exposure for uninfected passengers and crew.
One evacuee, who came with a group from China on Feb. 7, was diagnosed with coronavirus on Feb. 13, city officials announced. That group had 91 evacuees who will be in quarantine until Feb. 21.
The new group from the Diamond Princess will be housed separately from the China evacuees.
Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway