The White House is considering suspending all flights in and out of China as a result of the increasing number of deaths caused by the virus.
Speaking on Tuesday, HHS Secretary Alex Azar stated:
Americans should know that this is a potentially very serious threat, but at this point, Americans should not worry for their own safety. This is a very fast-moving, constantly changing situation … Part of the risk we face right now is that we don’t yet know everything we need to know about this virus. But I want to emphasize that does not prevent us from preparing and responding. We have the experience of responding to two earlier coronaviruses that emerged to cause serious illness in people: SARS and MERS, and we have experience responding to bird flu outbreaks in Asia.
He continued:
One challenge is that with an emerging virus like this, our current assessments are based on an uncertain denominator. Our denominator is the 4,500-plus cases that have been identified in China as well as more than 60 cases in other countries. But these early cases are naturally the most severe cases because patients presented themselves to health-care providers … The cases that have been identified skew to the severe; including patients who are older or have other illnesses. The mortality rate may drop over time as we identify a broader set of cases…
Azar acknowledged, “Late on Monday, the CDC and the State Department issued a level 3 travel advisory for all of China. This higher level of alert means Americans should reconsider or postpone travel to any part of China.” Only Hubei province, where the city of Wuhan resides, is under a more severe advisory than level 3. The State Department wrote on Wednesday:
Hubei Province: Level 4: Do not travel to Hubei province, China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China … There is an ongoing outbreak of respiratory illness first identified in Wuhan, China, caused by a novel (new) coronavirus. In an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, the Chinese authorities have suspended air and rail travel in the area around Wuhan.
Asked whether the U.S. would impose more travel restrictions, Azar responded, “In terms of travel restrictions . . . it’s important to not take anything off the table with a rapidly emerging novel infectious disease,” as The New York Post noted.
USA Today reported, “A White House official, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said talks are ongoing. ‘The White House did not call the airlines and hasn’t asked for a suspension of flights between the U.S. and China,’ the official said.”
British Airways has suspended flights to and from mainland China; the country’s Foreign Office had cautioned against “all but essential travel.”
According to CNBC, “United Airlines, which has the most service of the U.S. airlines to Hong Kong and mainland China with about a dozen daily flights, on Tuesday announced it would cancel dozens of flights next month to Hong Kong and mainland China as the outbreak worsens. The Chicago-based airline said it has experienced a ‘significant decline in demand for travel to China.’”
CNBC added, “The Department of Health and Human Services said the CDC is expanding screening for the virus from five to 20 U.S. airports.”