coronavirus

First Group of Coronavirus Evacuees at Travis AFB Released

Quarantine lifted for 180 people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, and stayed at a base hotel for 2 weeks

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Dozens of people who have been quarantined at Travis AFB in Fairfield for the past two weeks after being evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus, were cleared medically and released Tuesday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 180 people have completed their 14-day quarantine at the base and are on their way home.

The evacuees have been living at the Westwind Inn at the base since they arrived two weeks ago.

Daisy Roth and her two daughters had been in quarantine, first in Wuhan where they were visiting family and then at Travis AFB, boarded a bus with about a dozen others on Tuesday afternoon to San Francisco International Airport, where Roth's husband was waiting.

The family was able to reunite after nearly a month-long separation.

"It's been exhausting, but I'm glad it's finally over," Roth's husband said. "It's been a roller coaster."

The Burnett family also spent a month apart. A bus took Yanjun Wei and her two children to Sacramento, where husband Ken Burnett met them to catch a plan back home to San Diego. They are relieved and grateful.

"I can't thank them enough," Wei said. "What they're doing for us is extraordinary."

On Monday night, one woman told her familyโ€™s story via Facetime. She and her two daughters have been separated from her husband and the girlsโ€™ father who was back home in Wisconsin.

"I canโ€™t wait to see my husband and meet up with my friends and family," the woman said. "The kids are really excited to see him after a few weeks of being apart."

While the saga ends for that first group of evacuees, it just began Monday for dozens of other Americans evacuated from a cruise ship held in dock in Japan after people onboard got sick with the virus.

Fourteen people from the latest group have tested positive for the coronavirus and were taken to a separate location off the base for continued isolation and care, officials said.

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