SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar will temporarily house American citizens who may need to be quarantined after traveling to China, according to base officials.
A Defense Department statement said that Human and Health Services officials requested the use of several facilities capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms through Feb. 29.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved that request on Saturday.
MCAS Miramar will join three other bases who have been chosen nationwide. Those bases are the 168th Regiment, Regional Training Institute, Fort Carson, Colorado; Travis Air Force Base, California; and Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
HHS is responsible for the care, transportation and security of all the passengers aboard the flight bound for MCAS Mirarmar, according to a statement. Miramar officials did not provide details on when they are expecting this flight.
Nearly 200 Americans are already quarantined at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside after being evacuated from Wuhan.
None of them are showing signs of the illness, but it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to start showing.
The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China, where the death toll rose to 304 on Saturday. Nearly 14,400 people have been infected with the virus globally.
