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The Center for Domestic Preparedness is near a dormitory where the federal government intended to house quarantined passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. "Local officials said they learned of the federal government’s plan to transport the evacuees to Anniston through local news media around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Alabama is currently under an amended Safer at Home Order (Spanish version) issued July 29 went into effect July 31 at 5:00 p.m. Also see: Governor Ivey Issues Amended Safer at Home Order. (Elijah Nouvelage for The Washington Post) Local leaders in Alabama said they don’t know how many of the passengers are being sent to Anniston.As of Saturday, coronavirus cases have been reported in 28 countries, including the U.S., All of the U.S. cases are linked to international travel, the The overwhelming majority of coronavirus cases — more than 76,000 — have been reported in China, where the virus originated in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our We have been in contact with Congressman Mike Rogers and Senator Richard Shelby. It has isolation hospital rooms — located in a former Army hospital building — but they are mostly just props, with fake equipment and light switches that exist only as paint on walls.Meanwhile, federal officials never contacted the town’s hospital, Regional Medical Center, about handling covid-19 patients, said Louis Bass, the hospital’s chief executive.Yet HHS officials said in a statement released to the public Feb. 22 that patients who become seriously ill would be sent to “pre-identified hospitals for medical care.”The hospital does have eight negative-pressure isolation rooms, but patients with serious complications would need to be sent to a larger institution, such as Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, 90 miles away, Bass said.Emory University Hospital did not respond to a question about whether it was told about the HHS plan.A federal contract for a local ambulance service was secured at the last moment, after HHS had already issued a statement about its plan for Anniston.
No time for politics.”Anniston’s flirtation with the dreaded virus did have one positive effect, officials said. They would remain in the same What happened here over the past week illustrates how poor planning by federal health officials and a rumor mill fueled by social media, polarized politics and a lack of clear communication can undermine public confidence in the response to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease named covid-19. Other people talked about mysterious vans driving along county roads.Hodges and Draper held emergency news conferences and meetings to try to lessen the panic. He stood along the highway and waved to passing vehicles. The Oxford City Council will meet at 3 p.m. in support of the leaders in Anniston and Calhoun County.Local leaders said they were “completely caught off guard" by the HHS announcement, which they learned about on Saturday afternoon through local news media.UPDATE: Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. Tim Hodges is chairman of the Calhoun County Commission. Posted by The City of Anniston, Alabama on Sunday, February 23, 2020. The rapidly spreading virus has rattled economies worldwide in recent weeks and caused the deaths of more than 2,900 people, mostly in China.The panic and problems that burned through Anniston also provided a preview of what could unfold in other communities, as the spread of the virus is considered by health experts to be inevitable.“Their little plan sketched out in D.C. was not thought out,” said Michael Barton, director of the emergency management agency in Calhoun County, where Anniston is located.As local officials learned more, Barton added, “We knew then —”“We were in trouble,” said Tim Hodges, chairman of the county commission.In Anniston, local leaders were stunned to discover serious problems with the federal government’s plan for dealing with patients infected with the virus — starting with how the patients would get to Alabama, according to interviews with county and city officials, along with business leaders who dealt with the federal response.“I was shocked,” Anniston Mayor Jack Draper said. Elleen Kane, an HHS spokeswoman, told The Anniston City Council and Calhoun County Commission on Sunday will convene emergency meetings about seeking court intervention to stop the federal government’s plans . (Elijah Nouvelage for The Washington Post) “A virus is not going to just jump on a Democrat. HHS said it will provide the evacuees with basic medical care, and they will remain at the Center until being medically cleared.“Any of the evacuees who become seriously ill will be transported to pre-identified hospitals for medical care,” says a news release from HHS officials.The passengers were evacuated back to the U.S. by the federal government from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. ANNISTON, Ala. — Not long before local leaders decided, in the words of one of them, that federal health officials “didn’t know what they were doing" with their plan to quarantine novel coronavirus patients in town, a doctor here set out in a biohazard suit to stage a one-man protest along the highway with a sign.