Shoreline Property Chosen As Second Potential Quarantine Site

SHORELINE, WA — A government-owned facility in Shoreline was identified Friday as a second potential quarantine site for those who may have been exposed to the coronavirus from China.

The state-owned property is situated behind the Washington State Public Health Laboratory on Northeast 150th Street.

Since Sunday, new federal regulations require all airline passengers who have visited China's Hubei Province, where the illness originated, receive monitoring for up to 14 days. All air traffic from China is funneled into a handful of 11 major U.S. airports, including Sea-Tac.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff screen all returning passengers for respiratory symptoms. Those who appear ill are placed in immediate isolation and tested for the virus. People who appear healthy are required to undergo daily monitoring until the 15th day since their potential exposure.

Most have the option to do so at home, but if that is not possible, they must be monitored at a quarantine site.

According to the state Department of Health, officials have been working to identify several locations for potential quarantine sites, should the need arise. Earlier in the week, a Washington State Patrol training facility near North Bend was identified as the first such site in the state.

In a news release, health officials reiterated that anyone under quarantine did not show symptoms or pose a risk to the public.

"If anyone in quarantine became ill with symptoms consistent with novel coronavirus, they would be evaluated and removed from the site," the release said.

Among the two dozen people tested for the virus in Washington state, only one person was diagnosed with the illness. He has since been discharged from an Everett hospital. According to the latest numbers from the CDC, 12 people in six states have tested positive for the virus in the U.S.

State health officials said 20 people remained under public health supervision Friday — none were at the North Bend facility.

The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family and a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.