Battle Creek’s Fort Custer may be handling coronavirus cases for the federal government. The Department of Health and Human Services is asking the Pentagon to designate Fort Custer as one of 11 military installations near major airports that could potentially house overflow quarantine cases. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is expected to agree to the request.

Fort Custer and the other bases would be expected to provide housing for up to 20 people while being held under quarantine. HHS has its own facilities and non-military sites ready to handle a potential outbreak of cases in the US.   Several planes carrying American evacuees from Wuhan, China, landed in the United States on Wednesday and Thursday. Wuhan is the epicenter of the growing coronavirus outbreak. Detroit Metropolitan Airport has a medical screening team from the Centers for Disease Control in place to handle evaluations of incoming passengers and crew on flights from China.   The airport’s  Mcnamara Terminal receives direct flights from China. The airport is also designated to take flights from China diverted by the government if concerns develop about potential cases on flights.

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