Ashland – The 57 Americans who’ve been held in quarantine at a Nebraska National Guard camp were preparing to leave Thursday and remain in good health, a federal health official said.

They landed at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield on Feb. 7, having flown from the Wuhan region of China, the center of the COVID-19 outbreak.

They soon were bused to Camp Ashland, where they’ve been biding their time with daily health checks, staying in hotel-style rooms and having no contact with soldiers in training there. The evacuees include more than a dozen children.

One of the 57 who developed a cough about a week later was tested for COVID-19 at a special isolation unit on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus. It came back negative, and she later returned to the camp.

They’ve not been asked to wear masks or take any other health measures as they leave or once they arrive home, said Joe Smith, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“There is no need. These are healthy people,” Smith said.

Thirteen more evacuees who flew in last Monday are being held in isolation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.