Cruise on lockdown, flights stopped: Why risk of Americans getting coronavirus at airports, cruises, theme parks is still low
The United States State Department told Americans not to travel to China Friday because of the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 10,000 people globally, and caused more than 213 deaths.
This comes after a cruise ship was held in lockdown in Italy on Thursday because a passenger from Macao developed a fever and respiratory symptoms. (It was later determined not to be coronavirus.) And airlines including Delta, American Airlines and United have reduced the number of flights scheduled to China. British Airways canceled all flights to mainland China for a month.
So what does that mean for Americans traveling or visiting highly populated tourist spots?
While World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that the “continued increase in cases and the evidence of human-to-human transmission outside of China are, of course, most deeply disturbing,” the immediate risk of this virus to Americans is still considered low, the CDC said Thursday.
Simply, put the U.S. has had time to be proactive and prep for the arrival of coronavirus, which is one reason why experts say Americans can be calm.
“If you give a virus a head start, and hide it in the midst of flu season, it’s going to spread more widely,” Adalja says, describing the way coronavirus began spreading in China. But the Centers for Disease Control has been proactive from the beginning, setting up protocols to screen travelers who are returning from China, and pushing out information to clinicians about how to be alert for the virus, he says.
Travel restrictions around the world and lockdowns in China have been implemented to stop the virus from spreading. At 20 airports in the United States with quarantine stations, passengers from China will be screened for the virus and health officials will decide whether it’s safe for them to enter the U.S., according to the CDC.
So if you have a flight or cruise planned to somewhere besides China, there’s no need to cancel, Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and member of the Infectious Disease Society of America, tells CNBC Make It.
The same is true for highly populated areas, such as theme parks or shopping malls, Adalja says. In China, popular tourist sites such as the Forbidden City in Beijing and Walt Disney’s Shanghai Disney Resort, have closed until further notice in response to the outbreak.
And for travel on public transportation like buses or subways in the U.S., the general risk of coronavirus is low, Gottlieb says.
Of course, people should still follow standard respiratory hygiene practices, including washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, the CDC suggests. If you’re sick, you should stay home, cover your cough and clean any surfaces you touch frequently. And if you visited China in the last 14 days and develop a fever, cough or trouble breathing, the CDC says you should seek medical care and tell your doctor about your travel before you visit a doctor’s office or ER.
“There are other viruses circulating around so if you do get cold and flu like symptoms it’s more likely it’s going to be one of those viruses and not this novel coronavirus,” Adalja says. Flu activity is considered high in the U.S., and will likely continue for weeks, per the CDC.
Ultimately, information is developing quickly about coronavirus, so it’s wise to be alert and watch for any changes, Adalja says. “But right now it’s not a major threat to the average American,” he says.
The virus first emerged in Wuhan, China on Dec. 31. Though there are still a lot of questions about how the virus is spreading, and how it behaves, it’s believed to spread from person to person through respiratory droplets. The first human-to-human transmission of the virus within the United States was detected on Thursday in Chicago, making the U.S. the fifth country where the virus is spreading between humans.
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