North Bend fire academy picked for coronavirus quarantine site in Washington state
A state facility near North Bend will serve as a new quarantine site for people returning to Washington state from the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in China.
The Washington State Patrol said Tuesday that the Fire Training Academy will hold travelers from Hubei Province who can't self-quarantine at home. The academy is on Grouse Ridge Road along Interstate 90, southeast of North Bend.
The patrol said media would get a chance to tour the facility Thursday, but that would be the only access to the site.
Eleven cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the United States, including a 35-year-old man from Snohomish County. He was hospitalized for a couple weeks before being released.
Several other people are being monitored for the disease, but nearly 20 others who were suspected of having the disease have tested negative.
Sea-Tac Airport is one of 11 in the United States that are receiving flights from China. Travelers who appear sick will be quarantined there, but it's not clear which of those people would go to the North Bend site. It's also not clear how many patients are expected to be housed there.
U.S. citizens who returned from Hubei in the 14 days before Feb. 2 will be subject to health screening and could be quarantined for up to two weeks.
Four military bases elsewhere in the country are also designated as quarantine sites. Those are in Texas, California and Colorado, The New York Times reports.
Right now, doctors say, the risk of coronavirus in Washington state is low -- influenza is a bigger threat. They say hand-washing and staying home when sick are the best defenses against coronavirus.
-
Angela King
Morning News Host
Angela King is the local host of Morning Edition. She’s been a part of the northwest news scene since the early 1990s. A proud University of Washington alumna, with degrees in broadcast journalism and American ethnic studies, she started her career as a news writer in Seattle, before becoming a reporter and anchor in Seattle, Portland and Albuquerque.
More stories from Angela King » -
Gil Aegerter
Gil edits feature pieces and helps guide staff reporters through their stories. He previously served as interim digital director and online managing editor at KUOW. Before that he spent seven years with NBCNews.com, where he was variously a senior editor, editor-producer and features editor. He also worked 25 years as a newspaper editor in Anchorage, Alaska, San Diego, Wilmington, N.C., and Seattle. He also was a freelance researcher for NBC Olympics for the Games in Atlanta; Sydney, Australia; Salt Lake City; Athens; and Torino, Italy. He is a graduate of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, with a degree in photojournalism.
More stories from Gil Aegerter »
