Alabama Officials: Trump Says Evacuees Not Coming To Anniston

ANNISTON, AL — Multiple elected officials from Alabama say they have all had conversations with President Donald Trump assuring them that the United States Department of Health and Human Services plan to quarantine American passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Anniston's FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness who tested positive for the coronavirus has been canceled.

"Donald Trump called to assure me that this plan will not move forward. I thanked him for his support of AL! We always want to help our fellow Americans, but this wasn't fully vetted," Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a tweet.

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby also took to Twitter to share the news that Trump had told him the administration wouldn't be sending any evacuees to Anniston."I just got off the phone with the President. He told me that his administration will not be sending any victims of the Coronavirus from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to Anniston, Alabama."

Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican of Anniston, said he spoke to Trump twice in the past 24 hours, and that the president also told him the plan to house the Americans exposed to the coronavirus had been canceled.

A collection of the passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined for coronavirus infections were set to be possibly evacuated to Anniston's FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The cruise ship, which had been docked and quarantined in Japan for more than a month after hundreds of its over 2,500 passengers tested positive for coronavirus.

"The passengers who will stay at the Center tested positive for COVID-19, although at this time they either do not have symptoms or have mild-flu like symptoms," the Department of Health and Human Services said in the release. "Any of the evacuees who become seriously ill will be transported to pre-identified hospitals for medical care."

The Saturday announcement from the government organization took state and local officials by surprise.

The Anniston and Weaver city councils held emergency meetings Sunday morning to discuss the best possible options to handle the situation. Additionally, Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement on Sunday saying she had been told that the Anniston FEMA center was being considered only as a backup, but also articulated her own worries with the plan.

"I made it abundantly clear that while the State of Alabama wants to work closely with the Trump administration to assist fellow Americans who may have test positive for the Coronavirus, there were some grave concerns about why the site in Anniston was chosen and how, logistically, this would play out in the event this back-up site were to be eventually activated," Ivey said.

Local officials in Alabama spoke out against the lack of communication in the decision to host the evacuees in Anniston. "This was a decision by the federal government — and the federal government solely," Anniston Mayor Jack Draper said at a press conference.

The evacuees were expected to arrive in Anniston some time between Feb. 24-28, according to multiple local media reports.

The FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness is located on 61 Responder Drive in Anniston.

There's been no statement released from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about President Trump's comments to the Alabama elected officials about the cancellation of the plan.