Americans to Be Evacuated from Diamond Princess Cruise Ship
ALLEN: Welcome back. Hundreds of Americans stuck aboard that quarantined cruise ship in Japan could be coming home earlier than expected. We've now learned the U.S. is preparing a charter flight Sunday for about 400 Americans still on that ship right there. They and other passengers, have been confined to their rooms for 11 days. And even though their evacuation from the Diamond Princess is voluntary, there are some caveats. First, they'll be quarantined in the U.S. for another 14 days. And if they choose not to leave the ship on Sunday, the U.S. embassy warns they won't be allowed back in the U.S. for an undefined period of time. Well, let's bring in CNN's Matt Rivers. He's in Yokohama. He's been covering this story from the start. You have been talking with people on this ship. Are you getting reaction now to these options they're going to have, Matt?</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I think most people are certainly going to take the American government up on that option, especially because of some news we just learned about the disembarkation of the rest of this ship. Let me start first with these Americans. Interestingly, the State Department has not officially confirmed this is happening. We know that this is happening because of a letter that was sent to us by a passenger on board, that that passenger received from the U.S. embassy here in Tokyo. That letter lays out the plan, which would be for the Americans to send the plane to Tokyo on Sunday evening. People who want to get on that plane will leave the ship, get on a bus, go to the plane, fly back to the United States and do that 14-day quarantine period in one of two different American Air Force bases in California and San Antonio. If they choose to stay, though, well, that's when things would get interesting. What we also learned from the captain of the ship in an announcement is that this quarantine period that was imposed by Japanese authorities, which was scheduled to end on February 19th, well, that's going to go further and here's why. Starting on February 18th, so that will be Tuesday of this week, what's going to happen is that they're going to begin, Japanese authorities, testing all of the remaining passengers on board the ship. But they can only test so many people per day. And those tests take three days to come back. So if these passengers are tested on the 18th, the earliest they could get off is the 21st. And we know not everyone can get tested on the 18th. So that is the procedure facing all the other nationalities that are on board this ship, of which there are thousands of people. This quarantine period that was supposed to end on the 19th, now at the earliest for people, will end on the 21st. And how long it could go after that, Natalie, we're not sure.</s>ALLEN: There are some avenues for this to end. But it still, as you say, is complicated for sure. Matt Rivers for us, as always, thank you for bringing us the latest. Well, the coronavirus outbreak is giving all of us a crash course in how these diseases can spread and what could be done to counter them. As CNN's Lucy Kafanov learned, that's leading some patients under quarantine to question how experts are handling the crisis.</s>LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, U.S. officials are frustrated with a lack of information and data coming out of China. But some Americans under quarantine right here in the U.S. want more transparency from their own government.</s>KAFANOV (voice-over): As the coronavirus crisis grows, so are fears and frustrations among Americans in quarantine. At the Miramar Air Station near San Diego, evacuees from Wuhan increasingly worried after two were diagnosed with the virus. Now in isolation at a nearby hospital but not before spending time among the healthy evacuees. Jacob Wilson is among those in quarantine worried about the risk of infection.</s>JACOB WILSON, QUARANTINED AMERICAN: We're all coming from the epicenter of this virus. And we were also exposed in Wuhan.</s>WILSON: So we wanted to get tested because in case the people that were within our facility that are walking around with us, going to meals with us, not wearing face masks with us, were infected. And if they just had mild symptoms or they even had a reason to hide their symptoms, they could potentially be transmitting the virus to us within the quarantine facility.</s>KAFANOV (voice-over): He and other evacuees sent this petition to the CDC, demanding what they call critical changes, including preventing people from gathering in small, enclosed environments and having protective gear delivered to their rooms. He shared this video, showing cleanup crews in hazmat suits, a new precaution. But the top request, for all evacuees to be tested for the virus, for now denied. The CDC saying it's not necessary.</s>WILSON: Our biggest concern, the first thing that we asked for on the petition, the ability to be voluntarily tested for the coronavirus has still fell on deaf ears.</s>KAFANOV (voice-over): A CDC spokesperson told CNN, "Several changes have been made to many of the procedures to address these concerns. We're doing what we can to make everyone as comfortable as possible." For Jacob, that's not enough.</s>WILSON: I have felt very troubled by the CDC's response. And I feel some of the lack of precautions that they had taken from the very beginning of our arrival had put us at risk.</s>KAFANOV: That doesn't make you feel very safe.</s>WILSON: No. And I think that, you know, a lot of the people here's family don't feel safe as well.</s>KAFANOV (voice-over): Meanwhile, Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, reporting a record spike in the number of deaths. Chinese authorities resorting to wartime measures, barring citizens from leaving their homes. Beijing, revealing for the first time, more than 1,700 frontline medics are infected with the virus. Short on medical supplies, these doctors are creating protective gear out of garbage bags. American officials are frustrated with the lack of reliable data. There are only 15 confirmed cases in the U.S. so far. But that number could grow.</s>ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Right now, the risk to Americans is very low. But that can change quickly. This is a virus and viruses don't respect borders.</s>KAFANOV: We're learning now that five American cities will begin testing patients with flu-like symptoms for the coronavirus. The CDC says this was all part of an effort to determine whether that virus is spreading across communities in the U.S. -- Lucy Kafanov, CNN.</s>ALLEN: We want to remind you, you can get instant, continuous updates on the virus on our website, cnn.com. Next here, a step toward peace in Afghanistan. The U.S. and the Taliban have found some common ground. The specific ways we could see a reduction of violence in America's longest war. We'll talk about that. Also, President Trump is diverting billions of to his border wall. But we'll tell you why even some Republican lawmakers want to stop it.