Feb. 13 (UPI) — CDC officials confirmed Thursday the 15th case of COVID-19 in the United States, the second new U.S. case in less than 24 hours.
The coronavirus patient is among a group of people under federal quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, according to a CDC statement.
JBSA is one of four sites across the country housing U.S. citizens evacuated from Hubei province in China Feb. 7 on planes chartered by the State Department.
This is the first person under quarantine at JBSA-Lackland who had symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus, the agency said. The patient is isolated and receiving medical care at a designated hospital nearby. No additional information was released.
More than 600 people who returned to the United States from Wuhan on chartered flights remain under federal quarantine at three U.S. military bases — JSBA-Lackland, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, and Camp Ashland, an Army National Guard facility in Nebraska.
All those under quarantine are being closely monitored to contain the spread of the virus, the CDC said.
The CDC on Tuesday released 195 people from quarantine at March Air Reserve Base in California after holding them there for 14 days.
The quarantine was the first ordered by the agency in more than 50 years. Officials said the quarantine and travel restrictions have “slowed the arrival of the virus” in the United States.
