A total of six people who were quarantined at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, are confirmed to have the coronavirus, according to new media reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said five people who had contracted the coronavirus had been on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan before they were evacuated to Lackland Feb. 17, according to AL.com.
Hundreds of passengers aboard the cruise ship tested positive for the virus, including 14 Americans. Of those U.S. citizens, seven who had tested positive for the virus were taken to Lackland, but did not exhibit any symptoms of the illness at that time, State Department officials told reporters on Feb. 17.
It’s unclear if the confirmed individuals with the virus are the same ones who previously tested positive for the virus before heading to Lackland.
Additionally, another individual from China’s Hubei province who had arrived at Lackland earlier in February contracted the virus.
AL.com reports that the individuals are being treated at medical facilities, and that these are the only cases so far in the state of Texas.
On Friday, 90 evacuees who had been quarantined for 14 days at Lackland were released after not displaying any symptoms of the virus.
“These people being released from quarantine pose no health risk to the surrounding community, or to the communities they will be returning to,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, according to the Texas Tribune.
Lackland is one of several military installations responsible for quarantining evacuees in order to safeguard against the spread of the virus. Other bases in use are Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Travis Air Force Base in California.
Evacuees who had been transported to those California bases were released last week following a 14-day quarantine. The CDC told National Public Radio all patients being monitored were medically cleared, with the exception of one patient from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar who tested positive for the virus.
More than 79,000 people around the world have been diagnosed with coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization as of Feb. 24. Nearly 2,100 cases have been confirmed outside of China, where the virus originated.
There have been almost 2,600 deaths within China, and 23 deaths outside of China.
