COSTA MESA, Calif. — The four seasons don’t really affect Jill since she lives in Southern California where the weather is almost always nice. However, there is a season that makes this mom worried. It’s the flu season. 

“I just think it’s something we need to watch out for, be careful, wash your hands and stay safe,” said Jill, a nurse as well as a mother.

Jill says her son is 22-years-old now, but there are other kids in her life that she takes care of as an in-home nurse. So all this talk about the coronavirus and how it’s spreading worldwide does catch her attention. 

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“I will admit though, however, that I’ve gone to a couple places where somebody was really coughing up really hard and I was like, 'Oh I’ll walk this way,'” said Jill. 

She lives by the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa city borders. She and other residents recently learned that the Federal government had plans to transfer 30 to 50 people infected with the coronavirus to the Fairview Developmental Center.

“I think if they’ve been properly quarantined, if they’re being monitored and if they need to go, they have to go somewhere. They might as well go here where there’s good medical faculty to take care of them properly. I don’t have a problem with it,” said Jill.

However, she does believe the city made a good choice in trying to halt federal agencies from going through with the transfer because it didn’t receive information that would make the transfer transparent.

Costa Mesa City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison says city hall received a phone call from the California Office of Emergency Services after hours on Thursday. 

“They told us that as soon as Sunday evening, so less than 72 hours, they would be potentially transporting 30 to 50 people from the Travis Air Force Base right here to Costa Mesa to the Fairview Developmental Center,” said City Manager Farrell Harrison.

She says the city immediately gathered leaders and worked the city’s attorney. 

“It’s really important for the federal government and the state government to make clear their site selection process and criteria. They need to explain why they believe this is an appropriate or suitable site, how they’re going to keep the rest of the community and residents safe and why this site is even suitable for the individuals who have been exposed. For us, it just doesn’t make any sense,” said Harrison.

The proposed site is a state care facility slated for closure. It was named by Governor Gavin Newsom as a location to possibly house homeless people, but that hasn’t happened because the building was declared unsuitable and would need millions of dollars of funding to renovate. The building is nestled within a residential neighborhood and is close to businesses and schools.

“I, myself, am a mom with four teenagers and I’m really concerned about the impacts would be to any of us if we were to be exposed,” said Harrison.

The city filed an emergency restraining order to temporarily block federal authorities from moving patients to the facility. On Monday afternoon, the city appeared in Federal Court to explain their case and why they hope a judge will extend the restraining order. 

City leaders are hoping to have the order extended and more transparency in the matter to help protect the public’s safety.