Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Americans Evacuated From China Virus Zone Pass Health Test
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
January 29, 2020

Share

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials offered a reality check Tuesday about the scary new virus from China: They’re expanding screenings of international travelers and taking other precautions but for now, they insist the risk to Americans is very low.

“At this point Americans should not worry for their own safety.” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar
“At this point Americans should not worry for their own safety,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Tuesday.
China has confirmed more than 4,500 people with the respiratory illness, which in severe cases can cause pneumonia, with dozens more counted in other countries. In the U.S. so far, there are five confirmed patients, all of whom had traveled to the hardest-hit part of China — and no sign that they have spread the illness to anyone around them.
Still, “this is a very fast-moving, constantly changing situation,” Azar added.
Photo of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar speaks at a news conference about the federal government’s response to a virus outbreak originating in China, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The Biggest Unanswered Questions of the Outbreak

Flanked by the government’s top infection specialists, Azar listed the biggest unanswered questions of the outbreak and tried to tamp down some of the fear and speculation provoked by China’s rising toll:
— How deadly is this new virus? China’s death toll has passed 100 but the first patients counted in an outbreak “are naturally the most severe cases” and “skew our understanding,” Azar cautioned. Over time, if doctors find many more people had just a mild, cold-like illness, the death rate will change.
How easily does it spread? One way to measure that is an estimate of how many people could catch an infection from one contagious patient. Some reports have suggested that number might be between 1.5 and 3.5 for the new coronavirus, but Azar stressed it’s too soon to know. For comparison, one patient with measles could spread it to 12 to 18 others, he added.
What about silent carriers? Reports from China suggest some people may have spread the virus before showing symptoms. And Germany on Tuesday said a man with the virus near Munich never traveled to China or had close contact with anyone showing symptoms. Instead, he may have been infected by a coworker from China who briefly visited for a company training session and didn’t report feeling ill until her flight home. Later authorities confirmed three additional cases from the German company, all connected to the first.

The World Is Depending on Tried-And-True Public Health Steps

Some viruses, such as the flu, can spread before symptoms are obvious. But there’s no evidence it’s happened with the new virus in the U.S., where health officials are checking contacts of the sick. And epidemics are driven by the openly sick, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief of the National Institutes of Health.
Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to send its own scientists to visit China for a first-hand look try to answer those questions. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization said it hopes to send in international experts soon.
Without a vaccine or treatments, the world is depending on tried-and-true public health steps to tamp down the outbreak — finding the infected early and isolating them to stem the spread.
In the U.S., the CDC is beefing up its checks of incoming travelers. It already had been screening for illness among passengers arriving from the epicenter of China’s outbreak at five U.S. airports. But people who’ve visited other parts of China still may be arriving, with stops in other places first. Now, CDC is sending extra staff to other “quarantine stations” to screen arrivals at a total of 18 airports around the country and at two border crossings, in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego.

Photo of Robin Addison, a nurse in Washington
In this Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 photo, Robin Addison, a nurse at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash., demonstrates how she wears a respirator helmet with a face shield. It is similar to the one she used when she helped treat a man, currently in isolation at the hospital, who is believed to be the first person in the U.S. to have contacted a dangerous new virus that originated in China. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Azar Said He Has Directed $105 Million to Fight the Outbreak

The State Department has also chartered a plane to evacuate diplomats from the U.S. Consulate in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak started, and some other Americans.

Among the next steps, the CDC developed a test for the virus and aims to make it usable by state health departments, to speed diagnosis of suspected cases. Research also is under way to develop a vaccine or treatment.
Asked if those evacuees would be quarantined, Azar said there will be doctors on the flight to check all the passengers so health officials can decide if additional steps are needed.
With an incubation period of anywhere from two to 14 days, travelers may arrive showing no symptoms. But CDC’s Dr. Nancy Messonnier said the screenings are an opportunity to educate travelers that if they start feeling sick — with a fever, cough or flu-like symptoms — after returning from an outbreak zone, they should contact their doctor. That’s exactly what the first U.S. patients did.
Azar said he has directed $105 million to fight the outbreak. Among the next steps, the CDC developed a test for the virus and aims to make it usable by state health departments, to speed diagnosis of suspected cases. Research also is under way to develop a vaccine or treatment.
Airport screenings were initially done in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta. That has been expanded to Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; Dallas; Detroit; El Paso, Texas; Honolulu; Houston, Miami, Minneapolis; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia; San Diego; Seattle; Washington, D.C. (Dulles); and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

DON'T MISS

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

DON'T MISS

Fresno County’s New Breeding Ordinance Could Shut Down 50 Operations

DON'T MISS

NATO Leaders Set to Back Trump Defense Spending Goal at Hague Summit

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Wildfire Quickly Contained. How Did They Do It?

DON'T MISS

Lender’s Intervention Halts City of Fresno’s Eviction Attempt at Granite Park

DON'T MISS

Clovis Unified Faces Lawsuit Alleging Years of Neglect and Sexual Abuse at Fancher Creek

DON'T MISS

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

DON'T MISS

US Airstrikes Failed to Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Sites, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Stephen Miller Expands Power in Second Trump Term, Defies Legal Limits

UP NEXT

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

UP NEXT

NATO Leaders Set to Back Trump Defense Spending Goal at Hague Summit

UP NEXT

US Airstrikes Failed to Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Sites, Sources Say

UP NEXT

Things Netanyahu Might Say if Injected With Truth Serum

UP NEXT

US to Give $30 Million to Gaza Aid Operation Despite Violence Concerns

UP NEXT

Early US Intel Assessment Suggests Strikes on Iran Did Not Destroy Nuclear Sites, CNN Reports

UP NEXT

Yemen’s Houthis Likely to Be Persistent Problem for US, Senior Military Official Says

UP NEXT

Trump Casts Doubt on Mutual Defense as He Flies to Europe for NATO Summit

UP NEXT

Clovis Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison in Deadly Fentanyl Case

UP NEXT

Victims Identified as Death Toll Climbs to 8 in Lake Tahoe Boating Tragedy

NATO Leaders Set to Back Trump Defense Spending Goal at Hague Summit

15 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Quickly Contained. How Did They Do It?

15 hours ago

Lender’s Intervention Halts City of Fresno’s Eviction Attempt at Granite Park

15 hours ago

Clovis Unified Faces Lawsuit Alleging Years of Neglect and Sexual Abuse at Fancher Creek

16 hours ago

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

16 hours ago

US Airstrikes Failed to Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Sites, Sources Say

16 hours ago

Stephen Miller Expands Power in Second Trump Term, Defies Legal Limits

17 hours ago

FTA Unloads on Fresno Unified After Skipping External Search for Chief Academic Officer

17 hours ago

Fresno Man Dies After Alleyway Attack. Police Investigating

17 hours ago

Poll: Most Californians Prefer Lower Taxes and Fewer Services, Skeptical of Gov’t Spending

17 hours ago

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday conceded to state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary election for New York C...

11 hours ago

Former New York governor and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo speaks during the primary election night rally in New York City, U.S., June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
11 hours ago

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

People hold “I Voted” stickers on Democratic primary day in New York, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. After months of campaigning, caustic debates and a deluge of attack ads, the consequential Democratic primary for mayor of New York City comes to a head on Tuesday as voters stream to the ballot box in blistering heat. (Hilary Swift/The New York Times)
12 hours ago

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

15 hours ago

Fresno County’s New Breeding Ordinance Could Shut Down 50 Operations

President Donald Trump arrives at a dinner for NATO heads of state and governments hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Dutch Queen Maxima, on the sidelines of a NATO Summit, at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025. (Reuters/Toby Melville)
15 hours ago

NATO Leaders Set to Back Trump Defense Spending Goal at Hague Summit

A 180-acre wildfire in Cantua Creek was fully contained Tuesday afternoon, with CalFire crediting nearby roads for helping crews quickly stop the Monterey Fire from spreading. (CalFire)
15 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Quickly Contained. How Did They Do It?

15 hours ago

Lender’s Intervention Halts City of Fresno’s Eviction Attempt at Granite Park

16 hours ago

Clovis Unified Faces Lawsuit Alleging Years of Neglect and Sexual Abuse at Fancher Creek

California Fertility Clinic Bombing Investigation
16 hours ago

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend