Passengers flying to Logan Airport from China say coronavirus has them taking extra precautions

Passengers who flew into Boston from China Thursday told reporters that the recent outbreak of the deadly coronavirus has them taking extra precautions when traveling in order to avoid joining the hundreds of others that have already contracted it.

“People are not quite sure what the extent of the contamination is, so they’re really taking precautions,” said Albert Chen, who flew into Logan International Airport from Shanghai. “All of us are trying to wear masks, you can’t be too careful. I think some caution would be great to protect yourself and the people around you.”

The outbreak is believed to have started late last month when people picked it up at a fresh food market in Wuhan, China.

The World Health Organization reports that hundreds of cases have been confirmed thus far and that at least six people have died.

The head of a Chinese government expert team said Monday that human-to-human transmission has been confirmed in the outbreak, a development that raises the possibility that it could spread more quickly and widely.

“I’m worried for my father,” said Ynghong Liu, a student at UMass Amherst who flew into Boston from China. “The virus mainly affects people with old age and diseases, and my father is one of them and he travels a lot around the country.”

On Tuesday, the CDC announced that a U.S. citizen who recently returned to Washington State from a trip to central China was diagnosed with the virus.

The next day, nine passengers flying from Hong Kong to Boston were halted from immediately exiting the plane in order to be screened for the virus, which the Massachusetts Port Authority said was done “out of an abundance of caution.” None had any symptoms and were allowed to continue their trips.

Wikporia Klin, who flew into Boston from China to make a connecting flight, said that none of the passengers on her plane were screened for the virus, but said she would have felt better if some were.

“I was quite surprised that they didn’t screen us, because I was prepared. I would feel way better if they did it on our flight too,” Klin said, wearing a surgical mask to cover her face.

Liu said she’s not particularly worried that people traveling at Logan Airport will catch the virus, but since it can stay in a person’s body for several days without showing symptoms, she said it’s good to be careful.

“I think it’s kind of risky for everybody in the airport, but we’ll have to wait for a few weeks to see what the result is,” Liu said.

The virus causing the current outbreak is different from those previously identified. Initial symptoms of the “novel coronavirus” include fever, cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/36jOFkE