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Passengers board buses after arriving on an airplane carrying U.S. citizens being evacuated from Wuhan, China, at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif. Jan. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA On Jan. 29, 2020, 195 American passengers arrived at Riverside County s March Air Reserve Base on a flight from Wuhan, China, after fleeing the pandemic-stricken country.
At the time, well over 9,800 coronavirus cases were reported in China, with at least 213 COVID-19 deaths.
A year ago, the number of reported cases in California could be counted on just one hand.
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Now a federal investigation finds that the repatriated travelers were met at March ARB by U.S. health officials who had no prevention plan or infection-control training, according to a report Thursday in The Washington Post.
Today marks one year since a flight from Wuhan lands in Riverside
On this day just one year ago, the pandemic arrived at our doorsteps.
Jan. 29 marks the day in which a plane carrying up to 201 U.S. citizens evacuating the Wuhan region of China, where the coronavirus outbreak was first detected, arrived at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside.
The evacuees were greeted by a team of medical personnel in hazmat suits once they landed.
Afterwards, they were taken to a base medical facility for evaluation.
The passengers were initially under a voluntary 72-hour quarantine.
However, one passenger attempted to leave the
No masks, no infection control: Investigations confirm whistleblower accounts of botched evacuation from coronavirus epicentre, concluding it greatly increased risk of spread in US.
Americans evacuated from Wuhan to California at start of pandemic were NOT told to wear masks and were met by unprepared US officials , damning investigation finds
There was no infection control plan in place when the first American evacuees arrived back in the US from China at the start of the epidemic, a report found
The first 200 evacuees landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County on January 29 last year, and were not told to wear masks
Health officials at a California military base were even told to remove protective gear to avoid bad optics
U S handling of American evacuees from Wuhan increased coronavirus risks, watchdog finds washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.