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Travis Community On Edge As More Evacuees Arrive On Base

FAIRFIELD (CBS13) — Hundreds of passengers are being quarantined at Travis Air Force base, which has served as a ground zero of sorts for the coronavirus in this area.

This is the second time in a month there have been people quarantined here and the community has grown weary. So some are taking precautions like wearing gloves in public.

One business owner is buying what he needs to keep the coronavirus at bay. "It is a really uncomfortable feeling — what's happening," he said.

He says he has seen people with gloves and masks around Suisun City.

"That is making me a little more cautious because I am not sure they are sick or trying to keep from getting sick," he said.

The normally quiet town that sits in the shadow of Travis Air Force base has been turned upside down in the last 24 hours with hundreds of passengers being bused in from the coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise ship. Officials say 21 tested positive for COVID-19.

Those who tested positive were taken to area hospitals and will not be brought on base, but the 14-day quarantine for hundreds of their fellow passengers has some on edge.

"When they brought all those people here last night, I thought that we are going to have it like a bad dinner guest," said Tom Ross.

The first unknown-origin case of coronavirus appeared in Solano County after the last quarantine at Travis AFB in February.

Another woman said she was not too concerned. "If if I have to worry about that, I would be scared going to the grocery store or going anywhere," she said.

Since the first quarantine from the Diamond Princess started five weeks ago, Medic ambulance has been transporting dozens of quarantined people for medical treatment including eight patients who tested positive for COVID-19.

The president of the company says none of his employees have gotten sick or been quarantined because they are educated, have the right personal protective equipment, and practice proper protocol.

But many in the community question the decision to move passengers from Oakland for a quarantine here in the first place.

"I just wonder why they would shuttle them all the way to Travis AFB  when they could keep them in a closer facility to where the whole element was happening," a resident said.

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