Some of the passengers from a cruise ship in California that carried people infected by the new coronavirus have arrived at an air base in Georgia to begin a two-week quarantine, military official said.
The passengers arrived early Wednesday at the base in Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta, Dobbins Air Reserve Base said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.
Base officials didn’t specify the number of patients now on base, but they’ve said previously they were planning for dozens.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have full responsibility for all aspects of the quarantine, and Dobbins’ personnel will have no contact with the passengers, the base’s statement said. The passengers taken to Dobbins were screened before arrival, and none have been showing symptoms, it said.
The Grand Princess docked at the Port of Oakland on Monday after spending days off the California coast while quarantine plans were made. Test kits, flown to the ship by military helicopters and dropped on board, showed that 21 people had COVID-19.
For most people, this coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, but for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. More than 120,000 people have been infected worldwide, with more than 4,300 deaths, but the vast majority of people recover within weeks.
In Georgia, 22 people have now tested positive for COVID-19, though some tests have yet to be confirmed by the CDC, Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement late Tuesday. The 22 cases are from Charlton, Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Fayette, Floyd, Fulton, and Polk counties.
Fulton County Schools, one of the nation’s largest school districts, closed all schools for a second straight day Wednesday after a teacher who worked at two middle schools was found to have COVID-19. With about 93,000 students, Fulton County is the largest school district to close nationwide, according to data kept by Education Week.
