Logan Airport Not Currently Screening Passengers For Coronavirus

BOSTON (CBS/CNN) – A new Chinese coronavirus, a cousin of the SARS virus, has infected more than 200 people since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December. Boston’s Logan Airport is not currently screening passengers for the illness, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection told WBZ-TV. That’s because there are no direct flights to Boston from that region. Additional health screening for coronavirus is in place at JFK Airport in New York, San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. The agency said the CDC has determined that coronavirus presents a low risk to the American public, but there are already measures in place to identify travelers at ports of entry who might be infected with a communicable disease. The CDC confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the United States on Tuesday. A man in his 30s returned to Seattle with pneumonia-like symptoms after traveling in Wuhan. Scientist Leo Poon, who first decoded the virus, thinks it likely started in an animal and spread to humans. “What we know is it causes pneumonia and then doesn’t respond to antibiotic treatment, which is not surprising, but then in terms of mortality, SARS kills 10% of the individuals,” Poon, a virologist at the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong, said. The World Health Organization offered guidance to countries on how they can prepare for it, including how to monitor for the sick and how to treat patients. Here are...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Boston News Health Syndicated CBSN Boston Coronavirus Logan Airport Source Type: news