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Lockdown, Flights stopped: Cause Coronavirus

Canceled Flights, Quarantined Cruises

Cruise on lockdown, flights stopped: Why risk of Americans getting coronavirus at airports, cruises, theme parks is still low


Cruise on lockdownThe cruise ship Costa Smeralda is seen moored at the port of Civitavecchia after a passenger fell ill with a high fever on January 30, 2020 in Rome, Italy. About 6,000 cruise ship passengers are quarantined after a Chinese woman showed symptoms of a new coronavirus. (Photo by Baris Seckin / Agence Anadolu via Getty Images) Agence Anadolu


The US State Department has told Americans not to travel to China on Friday because of the coronavirus epidemic that has infected more than 10,000 people worldwide and killed more than 213 people.

This comes after a cruise ship was stopped Thursday in Italy because a passenger from Macau developed fever and respiratory symptoms. (It was then determined that it was not a coronavirus.) And airlines, including Delta, American Airlines and United, have reduced the number of flights to China. British Airways canceled all flights to mainland China for one month.

So what does this mean for Americans traveling to or visiting crowded tourist spots?


While the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that "the continuing increase in cases and evidence of human-to-human transmission outside of China is, of course, the most deeply worrying" , the immediate risk of this virus for Americans. is still considered weak, the CDC announced on Thursday.

Cruise on lockdown, flights stopped: Why risk of Americans getting coronavirus at airports, cruises, theme parks is still low"In other words, the United States has had time to be proactive and to prepare for the arrival of the coronavirus, which is one of the reasons why experts say that Americans can be calm.

"If you give a virus a head start and hide it in the middle of the flu season, it will spread more widely," says Adalja, describing how the coronavirus started to spread in China. But the Centers for Disease Control have been proactive from the start, putting in place protocols to screen travelers returning from China, and providing information to clinicians on how to be alerted to the virus, he said.

Global travel restrictions and blockages in China have been put in place to prevent the spread of the virus. At 20 airports in the United States with quarantine stations, passengers from China will be screened for the virus and health officials will decide if it is safe for them to enter the United States, according to the CDC.

So if you have a flight or cruise scheduled outside of China, there's no need to cancel, says Amesh Adalja, senior researcher at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and member of the Infectious Disease Society of America, at CNBC Make It.

The same is true for highly populated areas, such as theme parks or shopping malls, says Adalja. In China, popular tourist sites such as the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Walt Disney Disney complex in Shanghai have closed until further notice in response to the epidemic.

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And for public transportation like buses or subways in the United States, the overall risk of coronavirus is low, says Gottlieb.

Of course, people should always follow standard respiratory hygiene practices, including washing their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, suggests the CDC. If you are sick, you should stay at home, cover your cough, and clean any surfaces that you touch frequently. And if you have visited China in the past 14 days and you develop fever, cough or breathing difficulties, the CDC says that you should consult a doctor and inform your doctor about your trip before going to the doctor's office or emergency room.

"There are other viruses circulating, so if you get colds and flu symptoms, it's more likely that it will be one of these viruses, not this new coronavirus," says Adalja. Influenza activity is considered high in the United States and will likely continue for weeks, according to the CDC.

Ultimately, information grows rapidly on the coronavirus, so it's wise to be vigilant and watch for any changes, says Adalja. "But for now, it is not a major threat to the average American," he said.

The virus first appeared in Wuhan, China on December 31. Although there are still many questions about how the virus spreads and how it behaves, it is thought to spread from person to person through respiratory droplets. The first human-to-human transmission of the virus in the United States was detected on Thursday in Chicago, making the United States the fifth country in which the virus is spread between humans.

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