Hundreds Of Americans Evacuated, Quarantined As U.S. Officials Try To Keep Tight Hold Of Reins On Fast-Spreading Virus
“Maybe we can’t catch every returning traveler, but if we can catch the majority of them, we will slow the spread of the virus in the United States,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “We have a window of opportunity here.” Media outlets take a look inside what it's like to be under government or self-imposed quarantine.
The New York Times:
Hundreds Of Americans Were Evacuated From The Coronavirus Epicenter. Now Comes The Wait.
Americans evacuated from Hubei province in China arrived in California on government-arranged planes on Wednesday morning, and were greeted with applause by waiting medical personnel. They received health screenings, were warned to stay six feet away from the other families and were asked not to let children share toys. Eventually, bleary-eyed from an 11-hour flight, they fell asleep in their new temporary homes on military bases. (Jordan and Bosman, 2/5)
NPR:
Coronavirus Developments: Evacuees Land In U.S. As Disease Continues To Spread
Hundreds of U.S. nationals are stateside once more, as two planeloads of people fleeing the coronavirus outbreak in China landed Wednesday in California. The Department of Defense says the approximately 350 passengers aboard the chartered flights will be quarantined for two weeks on a pair of military bases in the state. According to the Pentagon, the passengers are to be distributed between Travis Air Force Base in Northern California, where the planes initially touched down Wednesday morning, and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego. (Dwyer, 2/5)
PBS NewsHour:
U.S. Evacuates More Americans From China Amid Novel Coronavirus Outbreak
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet passengers as they deplane for screening and intake. The passengers then will remain under quarantine for 14 days — the apparent incubation period for the virus — from the time their flight left China. “The measures we are taking may not catch every single returning traveler” with a possible case of novel coronavirus, Messonnier said. “If we can catch the majority of them, that will slow the entry of the virus into the U.S.” (Santhanam, 2/5)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Coronavirus: Planes From China Land At Travis Air Force Base, Hundreds To Be Monitored
Officials said the military bases will only provide lodging in secluded areas where base officials won’t have contact with them. Federal health officials plan to handle all care, transportation and security of evacuees. (Serrano, 2/5)
The Washington Post:
For Americans, A Nightmare Escaping Wuhan, Then 14 Days Of Quarantine
The airport was a 16-hour overnight vigil of lines and paperwork and stress and delays, of squawking children and the worried well, all trying to board the same two planes. Ningxi Xu’s name was on the list. But until the converted cargo plane was rising into the sky over Wuhan, China, she couldn’t be certain she would be one of the lucky Americans to escape the center of the coronavirus outbreak and make it back home. (O'Grady, Bernstein, Fifield and Wan, 2/5)
The Associated Press:
Life Under Virus Quarantine: Boxing, Chalk Art And Waiting
There's Zumba and boxing classes, lectures on business and taxes, and chalk art outside for the children. While it might sound like a local recreation center's offerings, it's actually part of daily life for 195 American citizens quarantined on a military base after being evacuated from the heart of a new virus outbreak in China. (Taxin and Spagat, 2/5)
CNN:
What It Means To Be Under The Coronavirus Federal Quarantine In The US
As the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread beyond China, federal public health officials in the US are taking a rare step: issuing a mandatory quarantine -- the first one in more than 50 years." The goal here is to slow the entry of this virus into the United States," says Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. (Kaur, 2/5)
ABC News:
American Man Anxiously Awaits Family To Return From Wuhan, China, Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Roth's wife, Daisy, is from Wuhan and she took their two young daughters to visit relatives in the Chinese city in mid-January, while Roth stayed home in Neenah, Wisconsin. At the time, the threat of the novel coronavirus seemed low. "When my family went there, we had heard about a disease that was starting to spread, but we thought it would get under control," Roth told ABC News in a recent interview. "It was really kind of shocking when we saw that the entire city was locked." "My first thoughts were, wow, this is a big deal," he added. "My wife and two daughters are there, but also all of my in-laws are there. My wife's parents, their brothers and sisters, their children and their children's children. Everybody is in Wuhan." (Winsor, 2/4)
The New York Times:
Thousands Of Miles From Wuhan, A U.S. City Is Shaken By Coronavirus
In 2003, when SARS was spreading, Edward Zhang was not yet a teenager and living with his parents in Wuhan, China, largely dependent on the morning paper and the nightly news to know what was happening in the next city over. The world has changed a lot since then. Now, as the coronavirus renders his home city a ghost town, overwhelming hospitals and forcing his friends and family to don masks in their own homes, Mr. Zhang is updated constantly despite living over 7,000 miles away, in Pittsburgh. (Robertson, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
Universities Cancel Study-Abroad Programs Amid Virus Fears
As concerns about China's virus outbreak spread, universities all over the world are scrambling to assess the risks to their programs, and some are canceling study-abroad opportunities and prohibiting travel affecting hundreds of thousands of students. From Europe to Australia and the United States, universities in countries that host Chinese students have reconsidered academic-related travel to and from China. In the U.S., the cancellations add to the tension between two governments whose relations were already sour. (Melia and Franko, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
Global Tourism Takes Major Hit As Virus Halts Chinese Travel
This should have been a good year for global tourism, with trade tensions gradually easing, certain economies growing and banner events like the Summer Olympics taking place in Tokyo. But the viral outbreak in China has thrown the travel industry into chaos, threatening billions in losses and keeping millions of would-be travelers at home. Gabrielle Autry, an American who lives in China, had expected to travel to Hong Kong this week to get engaged to her Chinese boyfriend. (Durbin, 2/6)
Modern Healthcare:
ECRI Institute Creates Hospital Resource Center For Coronavirus
The ECRI Institute launched a resource center on its website to help providers prepare for potential threats associated with the Wuhan coronavirus. The Coronavirus Outbreak Preparedness Center, which is free to the public, includes lists of supplemental devices and supplies as well as guidance on how clinicians can prepare for viral outbreaks. (Castellucci, 2/5)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
UPS Pilots Union Deal Allows Crew To Opt Out Of China Flights
The pilots union at UPS has struck a deal with the company to allow pilots to opt out of flight assignments to China.The deal between Sandy Springs-based UPS and the Independent Pilots Association allows pilots to take a personal leave of absence for trips that include a flight in or out of mainland China, according to pilots union president Robert Travis. (Yamanouch, 2/5)
Iowa Public Radio:
Two Iowans Undergoing Testing For Coronavirus
The Iowa Department of Public Health says it has identified two people in the state who are undergoing evaluation and testing for the coronavirus. State medical director Caitlin Pedati said in a press conference on Facebook Live Wednesday afternoon that the two people are in isolation and are being tested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Krebs, 2/5)
Kaiser Health News:
Listen: Updates On Coronavirus Outbreak And How It Affects Chinese Immigrants
California Healthline correspondents Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Anna Almendrala appeared on New Hampshire-based WNHN’s “The Attitude w/ Arnie Arnesen” on Tuesday to discuss the latest news about the novel coronavirus outbreak. Because there’s still much scientists don’t know about the virus, also known as 2019-nCoV, global and national policies — especially those related to quarantines and travel restrictions — continue to evolve. (2/5)
