- The Department of Defense approved 11 ‘installation sites’ near major airports around the US
- They will be used if and when hospitals are unable to accommodate passengers in their own quarantine sites
- The airports are located in Hawaii, Illinois, Texas , California , Georgia, New York, Washington state, Washington DC, New Jersey and Michigan
- Americans returning from the coronavirus outbreak epicenter in Wuhan, China, are required to spend 14 days under quarantine
- Those returning from China who did not visit Wuhan are subject to 14 days of self-isolation in their homes
- Foreign nationals who have traveled to China in the last 14 days are not allowed into the US
The Pentagon is setting up 11 quarantine camps on military bases near major airports across the US in anticipation of an influx of American citizens returning from China in need of monitoring for the deadly coronavirus that is now being called COVID-19.
The 13th US coronavirus case was confirmed in California on Tuesday. The deadly strain, which is now being called COVID-19, has killed 1,116 people and sickened more than 45,000 worldwide since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in late December.
The Department of Defense approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services early this month for the possible use of military facilities to accommodate 1,000 people who may have to be quarantined upon arrival from overseas through the end of the month.
Now, with five planes having returned to the US with evacuees from Wuhan in the past two weeks, the number of people detained under quarantine is approaching that originally agreed upon number.
Pentagon officials designated new facilities last week near airports in Hawaii, Illinois, Texas, California, Georgia, New York, Washington state, Washington DC, New Jersey and Michigan to house additional travelers.
The camps will be set up next to 11 major airports around the US. On February 1, the Associated Press reported that they would house as many as 250 people each.