HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaii has its first mandatory quarantine case tied to the Coronavirus.
The health department says the person is a Hawaii resident who arrived in Honolulu Monday morning and was at Hubei province the epicenter of the contamination a few days ago.
Health officials point out that the person is not showing any symptoms but needs to be quarantined for 14 days because it is required by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control).
The health department along with the lieutenant governor announced in a news conference that the passenger arrived in Honolulu Monday morning and was then taken to the federal quarantine facility at Pearl Harbor.
There are no direct flights from China so officials say this passenger visited another country after China and then came home to Hawaii.
“The individual lives here,” said Lt. Gov. Josh Green. “That’s why they’re back here in Hawaii. They do not have any symptoms .They will be monitored very closely at Pearl Harbor, and by our Department of Health in coordination with CDC personnel.”
“We were notified by CDC regarding the traveler who had recently returned from Hubei province within the last 14 days,” said Dr. Sarah Park. “Our understanding is this is a lone traveler. There are no other individuals we have to worry about monitoring.”
Health officials say because the passenger is not showing any symptoms there is no great concern on whether he or she has contaminated anyone else on the plane.
“I don’t want to say there’s no risk but we’d be a lot more concerned if this was an individual coming, who had been very sick on a plane,” said Green.
The reason for the quarantine is because the person has been to Hubei province.
Other passengers who have been to other parts of China are asked to put themselves in self quarantine or self monitoring.
The health department says there are 26 of them here now. Some are Hawaii residents.
“Those people who are exposed who have been to China have all been carefully monitored both self monitoring program and also our health department as necessary,” said state Department of Health director Dr. Bruce Anderson.
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