Airport Screenings Ramp Up At Five Major American Hubs As First U.S. Case Of Coronavirus Is Confirmed

The New York Times: Wuhan Coronavirus: C.D.C. Identifies First U.S. Case In Washington State
A man in his 30s in Washington State is infected with the Wuhan coronavirus, the first confirmed case in the United States of a mysterious respiratory infection that has killed at least six people and sickened hundreds more in Asia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday. (Rabin, 1/21)

The Associated Press: Washington Man Is 1st In US To Catch New Virus From China
The man, identified as a Snohomish County resident is in his 30s, was in good condition and wasn't considered a threat to medical staff or the public, health officials said. U.S. officials stressed that they believe the virus' overall risk to the American public remained low. “This is not a moment of high anxiety,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. (Johnson and Stobbe, 1/21)

The Washington Post: First U.S. Case Of Potentially Deadly Chinese Coronavirus Confirmed In Washington State
Washington state health officials said the man, a resident of Snohomish County, Wash., returned Wednesday from a trip to the region where he was visiting relatives in Wuhan, where the outbreak began. Shortly after arriving at Seattle’s international airport, he began feeling ill and reached out to his health-care provider on Sunday. Local, state and federal officials quickly collected samples and sent them to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. His case was confirmed Monday as the coronavirus that has sickened close to 300 people in China and others in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. (Sun and Bernstein, 1/21)

Reuters: Washington State Man Who Traveled To China Is First U.S. Victim Of Coronavirus
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Washington State say the agency is preparing for more U.S. cases of the coronavirus to emerge, and the CDC raised its travel alert for Wuhan to a level 2, calling for enhanced precautions. (Steenhuysen and Whitcomb, 1/21)

The Washington Post: U.S. Airports Are Screening Travelers From China For The Coronavirus
Amid growing concerns about the spread of a new coronavirus, officials announced Tuesday that Chicago’s O’Hare and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson will join the list of U.S. airports where passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, will be screened for the virus. (Aratani and Sun, 1/21)

Chicago Sun Times: O’Hare To Begin Screening For Mysterious Coronavirus After 1st Case Reported In U.S.
As federal authorities confirmed Tuesday the first case on U.S. soil of a deadly new virus that arose in the so-called “Chicago of China,” city and state officials are preparing to do their part in preventing a potential epidemic that one local expert says the country is completely unprepared to handle. The virus — part of the coronavirus family, which includes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS — broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan last month. Since then, the virus — which can cause coughing, fever, breathing difficulty and pneumonia — has infected 440 people and killed nine, according to Chinese officials. (Ballesteros, Charles and Esposito, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: First U.S. Case Reported Of Deadly Wuhan Virus
The CDC began screening at the end of last week at three airports that receive the majority of travelers from Wuhan: San Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. More than 1,200 passengers have been screened, but none have been referred to a hospital, said Dr. Messonnier. (McKay and Deng, 1/21)

Stat: CDC Details First U.S. Case Of Novel Virus Spreading In China
Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC’s center of quarantine and global migration, said that as cases in China started to increase rapidly over the weekend, CDC alerted the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation that all flights from Wuhan to the United States should be funneled through the five airports, where arriving passengers will have their temperatures taken for sign of illness. “This idea of funneling means redirecting, reissuing tickets so all the arriving passengers from Wuhan would come into the airports that we can surge this capacity at,” Cetron said, adding other international airports are distributing information for passengers in English and Mandarin. (Branswell, 1/21)

Los Angeles Times: Chinese Coronavirus Outbreak Has Reached U.S. Shores, CDC Says
“Leave no doubt: Entry screening is just one part of a multilayered system,” said Dr. Martin Cetron, the head of the CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. “Individuals are empowered to make good decisions if they’re informed.” Outside experts cautioned that the increased airport screenings will be expensive, and that it will take some time to get answers to basic questions like what animal was the source of this virus and what makes some people more susceptible to infection than others. “Basic epidemiology questions remain unanswered,” said Rebecca Katz, the director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University. “The CDC is the best of the best, and we should have faith in their leadership.” (Baumgaertner, 1/21)

Bloomberg: How Airlines And Airports Are Dealing With China Coronavirus
Airports and airlines are taking steps to protect staff and passengers amid heightened concern over the outbreak of a new virus originating from the Chinese city of Wuhan. At least nine people have died and hundreds more have been infected, including the first confirmed case in the U.S. The level of alarm is rising as the coronavirus spreads. China said it will conduct nationwide screening and improve monitoring of transportation links for the Lunar New Year holidays, which start at the end of this week. That complicates efforts to contain the virus as hundreds of millions of people travel during the period, the biggest annual migration of humans on the planet. People found to have symptoms such as fever at travel checkpoints are being stopped from boarding planes and trains. (Davies, Gross and Park 1/21)

CNN: Airport Screenings For The Wuhan Coronavirus Increase Around The World
Passengers flying in from Wuhan, whether on direct or indirect flights, will only be allowed to land at one of those five US airports doing health screenings, which include a temperature check and observation for symptoms such as a cough and trouble breathing. (Cripps, 1/22)

CBS News: Coronavirus: Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Confirms First U.S. Case Of Coronavirus In Seattle, Washington
The CDC is raising the travel health notice from level 1 to level 2, warning older patients with underlying health conditions that they may be at increased risk for severe disease. (McNamara, 1/21) 

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Advised To Prepare For Dealing With Wuhan Coronavirus
U.S. hospitals should prepare "financially and operationally" to contend with a potentially deadly outbreak of the Wuhan virus that has already killed six people and sickened hundreds more in China, a major accounting firm said Tuesday. Although the respiratory virus is in its early stages, it has already left a mounting human and economic toll, wrote Matt Wolf, who leads RSM's healthcare valuation consulting group. (Bannow, 1/21)

Politico: First Case Of Deadly China Virus Identified In U.S.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday will consider whether to declare an emergency declaration over the new virus. HHS Secretary Alex Azar is also expected to soon decide whether to declare a public health emergency in the United States. (Diamond, 1/21)

The Hill: Trump Says US Has Coronavirus 'Totally Under Control'
Trump was asked about the new coronavirus in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, one day after the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first U.S. case of the virus in Washington state. Trump said he was “not at all” concerned about the possibility of a pandemic.“We have it totally under control,” Trump told CNBC. “It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control.”“It’s going to be fine,” the president continued. (Chalfant, 1/22)