COVID-19: 13 US evacuees from coronavirus-hit Japan cruise ship being treated in Nebraska

AFP: Thirteen US citizens deemed “high risk” for the deadly new coronavirus are being treated at a federally designated facility in the University of Nebraska following their evacuation from a cruise ship in Japan, officials said Monday.

A total of 338 Americans were flown home from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan’s Yokohama, touching down first at Travis Air Force Base in California shortly before midnight Sunday.

The second flight arrived early Monday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

“A select number of high-risk patients were transported onward from both locations using those same aircraft to Omaha, Nebraska for care at the University of Nebraska,” Health and Human Services official Robert Kadlec told reporters.

State Department official William Walters added these included six passengers from the base in California and seven from the base in Texas.

Some of these included spouses and it was not clear how many had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.