More cruise ship passengers under quarantine at Travis Air Force Base have learned they have tested positive for coronavirus as others were set to be released from the base Thursday morning.
Test results from Japan are trickling in and the results have sent a new batch of people heading to the hospital, including a man from Redwood City.
Three days after being evacuated from the Diamond Princess Cruise ship to Travis Air Force Base, Rick Wright got some awful news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"I was tested three days ago. They swabbed my throat as I was leaving the ship, and they came to me an hour ago and said I was testing positive for the virus," Wright said in an exclusive interview Wednesday with NBC Bay Area.
Wright is stunned and said he does not have any symptoms.
"I feel great so I don't know what the deal is, but I think the CDC should be embarrassed how they've handled the whole situation," Wright said.
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Wright's brother and sister-in-law feel the same way, especially knowing there were seven infected people aboard the same cargo plane the Wrights flew in on. NBC Bay Area caught up them on Tuesday dropping off clean clothes and supplies for the couple.
"They were all in the same airplane as you say and some of the people were taking off their masks and talking to each other," sister-in-law Kathleen Wright said.
With a handful of new people at Travis AFB, including Wright now testing positive for coronavirus, the worry is warranted. Wright is angry about how it is all being handled. He was told there is no room for him at any nearby hospital.
"It's an absolute joke," he said of the process.
Meanwhile, three buses filled with people whose quarantine has been lifted were set to leave Travis on Thursday morning. Two buses are scheduled to leave the base at 7 a.m. and head to San Francisco International Airport, and the third bus is scheduled to leave the base at 10 a.m. and head to an airport in Sacramento.
The exact number of people released wasn't clear.
