California city protests plan to house co8k8 appronavirus patients

LuAnn Jalet has been closely following developments regarding the novel coronavirus pneumonia, so when federal and state agencies decided to quarantine patients who tested positive for the coronavirus to a state-owned facility in Costa Mesa, California, in Orange County, she had many questions.

"Why … is an almost condemned building being refurbished in the second most highly populated county in California?" asked Jalet.

The Newport Beach resident was among the dozens of concerned neighbors who flooded a federal courtroom Monday for a contentious hearing regarding the authorities' decision to relocate passengers from the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan to Costa Mesa's Fairview Development Center, but like many of her fellow Orange County residents, she felt that the majority of her questions had gone unanswered.

"I don't think that the facility … can help anyone, it's never been set up as a medical facility," Jalet said. "It was for people with mental disabilities, but never meant to fight a disease that's quickly becoming a pandemic worldwide."

The coronavirus epidemic has infected more than 81,000 people worldwide. As of Wednesday, there were 60 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US.

An official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced late Wednesday that there's a new novel coronavirus case in Northern California which is not tied to the Diamond Princess. The origin of the latest case remained unknown as of this writing. The new case brought the total number of confirmed cases in California to 16.

Orange County officials on Wednesday declared a local emergency in handling the outbreak following a similar announcement from San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday. California's Santa Clara and San Diego counties also previously declared emergencies.

On Monday, a federal judge allowed an extra week for the federal and state agencies to answer local officials' concerns before deciding whether to transport patients to the Costa Mesa facility during a hearing set for March 2 at a federal courthouse in nearby Santa Ana.

US District Judge Josephine Staton said the decision was made to give federal and state agencies "more time to have open, transparent communication with local officials", adding that mistakes are made when things are done in a hurry.

She said the city does not have veto over federal and state governments' decisions in controlling the epidemic.

At the center of the debate is the government's decision to move COVID-19 patients from Travis Air Force Base in Northern California to the Fairview Development Center, which residents have described as a dilapidated structure located on a busy street.

According to local officials, they only received notice from federal agencies at 5:20 pm Feb 19 that health authorities would be moving coronavirus patients to Fairview as early as last Sunday. They officials also said they were not included in the planning process.

City officials in Costa Mesa filed for and were granted a temporary restriction order by Staton last Friday. The Costa Mesa officials said a lack of information and instruction from the government led to their decision.

It was also unclear, even after the Monday hearing, why the Costa Mesa facility had been chosen and what precautions would be taken there to prevent the further spread of the disease, said the city's mayor, Katrina Foley.

"We learned about things in a hearing, and as the judge indicated, normally all the facts are gathered before the hearing," Foley said at a news conference after the Monday court hearing. "The judge's job is just to rule on the legal questions, but we were learning information even as we were sitting there, and this is coming from our federal government. We should all be concerned about it."

City officials maintained that the Fairview center, which is in a residential area close to public soccer fields and a college, is not an appropriate location for housing patients.

"I want to reassure you on behalf of the entire City Council that we will continue to push back against this very bad decision to place people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the middle of the second most populated county in California," Foley said.

The mayor also questioned the government's decision to cancel an earlier plan to move the patients to a FEMA facility in Anniston County, Alabama, after local residents there expressed concerns.

"There is no reason why that Costa Mesa and Orange County residents have to be treated differently than (nearby Ontario, California), than Alabama, than Nebraska," she said. "Why are were being treated differently? We deserve better."

Legal representatives for the state and federal governments argued in court that they chose Fairview because they wanted to put California patients in a centralized location where they can be monitored and cared for according to CDC protocols. The facility will be used to house only California patients, federal officials said.

Some of the patients are elderly and frail, authorities said, so keeping them quarantined in an in-state facility would be a better option than moving them out of state or keeping them quarantined at home.

They also said some of the patients who tested positive could not return to Travis because they no longer needed treatment. They are now being cared for in Northern California hospitals, which is putting a strain on health officials in that area.

In a response submitted in court Sunday, federal and state defendants attacked Costa Mesa officials for interfering in their handling of a public health crisis.

"Fear of COVID-19 does not justify such unprecedented intrusion into federal quarantine decisions by the specialized agencies responsible for this area," read the federal response.

The Orange County Health Care Agency on Wednesday issued a statement in support of Costa Mesa.

"Protecting the well-being and maintaining the safety of all Orange County residents is our highest priority," said Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel.

"I support Costa Mesa's request to halt the transfer of coronavirus patients by the Department of Health and Human Services and the (CDC) until we have all the information to ensure all the adequate and necessary safeguards and precautions are established," she added.