Federal Investigation Into US Handling Of Wuhan Evacuees In RivCo

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.

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.

The U.S. government's handling of the evacuees increased the risk of infection to the American public, the Post's reporting finds. Read the full report here.