City shares plan to monitor travelers coming in from China

Group will first be screened for symptoms in DFW Airport

Concerns over the new coronavirus are leading to two different plans here at home — one at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland and the other for the City of San Antonio.

A group of people who were in China and potentially exposed to the coronavirus will arrive in San Antonio on Thursday and be housed at Lackland, which is one of four coronavirus quarantine zones in the United States.

While the feds will handle what’s happening on base, assistant city manager Dr. Colleen Bridger is giving us a look at the city’s plan.

San Antonio health officials detail quarantine procedures for group coming to JBSA-Lackland from China

Bridger, who also served as the head of the Metro Health Department in the past, said travelers coming in from China and heading to Texas will have to stop at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for a screening.

She said the screening will look for symptoms or high-risk developing symptoms for the new coronavirus. If those symptoms are present, people will be quarantined in the DFW area.

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If they pass the screening, those travelers will have to provide their contact information and must check in with Metro Health once they arrive in San Antonio.

“We will have their flight number, name, address, telephone number, etc,” she said. “We will follow up with them to make sure they understand what it means to be under self-quarantine.”

Self-quarantine means staying home for 14 days and receiving daily check-ins to detect if any symptoms arise.


About the Authors:

Tiffany Huertas is a reporter for KSAT 12 known for her in-depth storytelling and her involvement with the community.

Adrian Ortega is a news producer for the Nightbeat. He joined the station in 2016. Adrian helped expand the Nightbeat to a one-hour newscast on the weekend and is now producing for the Nightbeat 5 times per week. He's helped cover the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 winter storm, race and policing in SA and the Alazan-Apache Courts on the West Side.