The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last Sunday night, Feb. 23, that Point Mugu has been chosen as a possible COVID-19 (coronavirus) quarantine location.
HHS is working closely with the defense department to identify suitable sites around the country as possible quarantine locations, explaining the exercise as a reasonable precaution to prepare for a possible national health emergency.
The HHS statement explained that travelers who could be quarantined at Point Mugu in the future would not necessarily be infected with the virus—they would be sent there “based solely on their travel history” and then monitored for symptoms as a precaution. The quarantine would affect Americans returning to or traveling through Los Angeles International Airport.
If any quarantined travelers at Point Mugu were to develop signs of infection, they would be transferred to “appropriate medical facilities” the statement said.
The government emphasized that only a small number of travelers with the coronavirus have been detected in the U.S. so far. They say the virus is “not currently spreading in U.S. communities” and that “immediate risk of this new virus to the American public is believed to be low at this time.”
An official tweet sent by the Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) told base residents that the “Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper has tasked Naval Base Ventura County with supporting the potential repatriation of American citizens subject to federal quarantine due to the coronavirus.”