Nearly 200 people who have been quarantined at an Air Force base in Riverside County are now free to return to their families.
The group had been flown in from China and placed under a 14-day federal quarantine as a precaution to protect against the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that started in the city of Wuhan.
“All 195 evacuees have completed final health check” and “pose no health risk,” said Dr. Nancy Knight with the Centers for Disease Control.
Knight said authorities have successfully pulled off the first quarantine in almost 60 years. She said the travelers won’t need any additional follow-up.
A photo released by the Riverside County Department of Public Health showed some members of the group flinging their surgical masks into the air in a scene reminiscent of a graduation ceremony.
The new virus, long referred to simply as the "novel coronavirus," now has an official name: COVID-19. It has surpassed the 2003 SARS outbreak in terms of fatalities.
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