For Community:
An aircraft facilitating repatriation of 210 United States residents from Wuhan, China to the United States landed at March Air Reserve Base (ARB) in lieu of Ontario International Airport Wednesday, January 29, 2020.
The passengers were screened prior to boarding the plane in China, with a secondary screening in Anchorage, Alaska. The passengers were met by Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services staff for repeated medical screening and additional testing for 2019 novel corona virus via CDC. The passengers have disembarked and the planned next step of screening is occurring.
"Once we were informed of the possibility the flight would arrive at March, we began a collaborative process for a plan to protect the health and well-being of the passengers and the residents of Riverside County," said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, county public health officer. Riverside County Public Health workers will assist federal officials with the screening process immediately after the passengers walk off the plane. "The screening process will be very thorough and ensure these people can get back home and not put anyone at risk," said Kaiser. There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Riverside County.
Riverside County has zero (0) confirmed cases of 2019-novel corona virus, and there are no confirmed cases of 2019-novel corona virus on the repatriation flight at this time. The repatriation passengers will be provided screening and testing for 2019-novel corona virus and monitored throughout their risk period. Public Health coordination efforts will continue as repatriation passengers travel on to their ultimate destination.
For more information about 2019-novel corona virus, visit: https://rivcoph.org/coronavirus.aspx and/or https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. The County of Riverside Emergency Management Department (EMD) has established a public call center to support efforts with community information-sharing: (951) 358-5134. Media inquiries should be directed to the established Public Information team at (951) 351-6852.
(This message was distributed to the Menifee USD community on letterhead and social media on January 29, 2020)
