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. 2022 Mar-Apr;137(2):203-207.
doi: 10.1177/00333549211063469. Epub 2021 Dec 30.

COVID-19 Case Investigations Among Federally Quarantined Evacuees From Wuhan, China, and Exposed Personnel at a US Military Base, United States, February 5-21, 2020

Meagan R Chuey  1   2 , Rebekah J Stewart  1 , Maroya Walters  1 , Emily J Curren  1 , Susan L Hills  1 ; COVID-19 Miramar Response Team Working Group; Kathleen S Moser  1 , J Erin Staples  1 , Christopher R Braden  1 , Eric McDonald  3
Affiliations

COVID-19 Case Investigations Among Federally Quarantined Evacuees From Wuhan, China, and Exposed Personnel at a US Military Base, United States, February 5-21, 2020

Meagan R Chuey et al. Public Health Rep. 2022 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

In February 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 232 evacuees from Wuhan, China, were placed under federal 14-day quarantine upon arrival at a US military base in San Diego, California. We describe the monitoring of evacuees and responders for symptoms of COVID-19, case and contact investigations, infection control procedures, and lessons learned to inform future quarantine protocols for evacuated people from a hot spot resulting from a novel pathogen. Thirteen (5.6%) evacuees had COVID-19-compatible symptoms and 2 (0.9%) had laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2. Two case investigations identified 43 contacts; 3 (7.0%) contacts had symptoms but tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Daily symptom and temperature screening of evacuees and enacted infection control procedures resulted in rapid case identification and isolation and no detected secondary transmission among evacuees or responders. Lessons learned highlight the challenges associated with public health response to a novel pathogen and the evolution of mitigation strategies as knowledge of the pathogen evolves.

Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; federal quarantine; repatriation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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