Over the past week the United States, along with several other countries, has issued travel restrictions for those who have traveled to China. This came after deaths due to coronavirus continued to rise and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.
"The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last Thursday. "Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it."
20 countries and territories outside China have confirmed cases of the virus. In response, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, declared it a public health emergency in the US. In conjunction with the health emergency, President Donald Trump also signed a proclamation, starting this past Sunday, that all
passengers on flights into the US that have been in the Hubei province in the last 14 days are required to spend up to 14 days quarantine. Wuhan, which is a city located in Hubei, is where the virus outbreak originated.
A group of 195 Americans arrived by plane Wednesday at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, and were staying at the base under a three-day voluntary quarantine.
Azar's health announcement came as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that there was a seventh confirmed coronavirus case in the United States.
In addition to the mandatory quarantine, any passengers who have been on the mainland China will be screened at one of seven airports to check for symptoms related to the virus. The seven airports arein New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta.
For confirmed 2019-nCoV infections, reported illnesses have ranged from people with little to no symptoms to people being severely ill and dying. Symptoms can include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The symptoms may appear anywhere from 2-14 days after exposure to the virus.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working closely with state health departments on disease surveillance, contact tracing, and providing interim guidance for clinicians on identifying and treating coronavirus infections.
China has also taken drastic measures in attempt to contain the outbreak. Much of Hubei is locked down by partially closing the border with Hong Kong. China has also built a 1,000-bed field hospital in less than two weeks to help treat and contain the virus.
The last time the CDC issued a mandatory quarantine was in the 1960s for smallpox.
Sources:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/30/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-update-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html
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