DFW Airport will begin screening for coronavirus

DALLAS – While the Director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, Philip Huang MD, MPH, said last week “the risk is low” of Dallas having any coronavirus cases, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is one of 20 airports in the nation that will begin screening passengers on incoming flights from China.

The screening is in order to detect symptoms of the 2019 novel coronavirus, which there have now been 11 cases confirmed in the United States as of earlier this week.

In the Dallas area, the idea is to be proactive while the numbers are still low. “It is a low risk to our community, we are working with partners to assess,” Huang said.

The 20 airports across the United States that will conduct screenings were determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US Vice President Mike Pence said earlier this week, these airports were selected since they handle roughly 90% of the passengers coming from China into the United States.

DFW is listed as number seven with the top five airports on the list already screening:

Los Angeles International

San Francisco International

Chicago O’Hare

New York JFK

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International

Houston George Bush 

Intercontinental 

Dallas-Fort Worth International

San Diego International

Seattle-Tacoma International

Honolulu International

Anchorage Ted Stevens International

Minneapolis-St. Paul International

Detroit Metropolitan

Miami International

Washington Dulles International

Philadelphia International

Newark Liberty International

Boston Logan International

El Paso International

Puerto Rico’s San Juan Airport

American Airlines was the only airline at DFW Airport with flights to and from China, including Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.  Those flights have been temporarily canceled until Mar. 27. 

American Airlines said in a statement Friday, “We will continue to evaluate the schedule for Mar. 28 and beyond and make any adjustments as necessary.” 

Delta Airlines will suspend flights from Feb. 6 to Apr. 30, and United Airlines will also suspend flights to China beginning Feb. 6. 

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department issued its highest travel advisory, urging people to avoid travel to China. 

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global emergency. It has also been reported that the death toll in China now exceeds that of the SARS outbreak from 2002 and 2003.

A press release from Jane M. Orient, M.D., Tucson, AZ, president, Physicians for Civil Defense stated, “The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has reached 20,209, with 426 deaths,” that according to the interactive map provided by Johns Hopkins CSSE (Center for Systems Science and Engineering).

Another city has also been quarantined this week, Wenzhou, which is nearly 600 miles from Wuhan.

Orient also said, “The first wave of cases must have occurred in December or earlier because by Jan 2, 41 cases admitted to hospital in Wuhan had a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of 2010-nCoV.  But Wuhan was not placed under quarantine until 5 million people had left to celebrate the New Year, carrying the virus all across China.”