PORTLAND, Ore. — Approximately 50 million people are quarantined in and around Wuhan, China because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
That's about the same amount of people who live in Washington, Oregon and California combined. The outbreak is now being called a public health emergency.
The government is banning most foreign visitors who have been to China in the last two weeks. There are exceptions for immediate family members of U.S. citizens, permanent residents and flight crew members.
Citizens who've been to Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, must undergo a mandatory quarantine within two weeks of their return to the United States. Those who've visited other parts of China within the last 14 days must be screened upon entry back into the U.S. and up to 14 days of self-quarantine.
Eleven U.S. airports are screening travelers for the deadly virus. Portland International Airport isn't one of them, but Sea-Tac in Seattle is. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put a quarantine station at those airports for Americans flying in from China. Citizens flying from China aren't being re-routed to Portland, so PDX is not one of the international airports conducting enhanced screening.
Fortunately, we don't have any known cases of novel coronavirus in Oregon. Health officials say the risk of getting it is still low in the United States.
People who've been to Wuhan, China recently or anyone who's had close contact with someone who has are most at risk. Travelers KGW spoke with flying into PDX aren't worried yet and say, for the time being, they’re not changing their travel plans.
"I guess if it were an area I was going to travel to I would probably change my plans,” Christina Inman said. “I did see a few people with masks on today and it gave me a little bit of concern but not too much, not yet.”
“I mean, there are people who take precautions over it but I didn't think twice about it,” Stephanie Gianes said.
If you are planning to travel, here is advice to keep you from getting sick in general:
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. You can also use hand sanitizer with at least 60-percent alcohol.
- Don't touch your eyes, nose or mouth.
- You'll want to use a wipe or spray to clean and disinfect any objects or surfaces that people touch frequently.
- This may come as a surprise, but health officials say face masks won't protect you from the coronavirus. They could be helpful if you have the flu or cold and don’t want to spread your sickness.
With the new travel restrictions in place, Portland State University did have to change their plans.
“I don't ever remember there being travel restrictions that have impacted where people go or how people come to the United States,” International Student and Scholar Services Director Christina Luther told KGW.
In this letter posted Friday, leadership said travel to mainland China for university business is suspended.
Three Portland State students are studying abroad in China this term. Luther says the students’ abroad programs are currently moving them to other countries as a precaution.
PSU admitted 10 Chinese students for the spring term, and a handful of scholars were planning to come. They no longer can.
“With the travel restrictions that went down on Friday that changes things pretty dramatically because those students who were going to come in the spring term now won't be coming,” Luther said.
Two scholars from China made it to Portland last week, prior to the travel restrictions going into effect. Luther says they’ve checked on those individuals but are not monitoring them. The university shared information about what to do if they start to feel sick, but we are told the visitors currently "feel fine."
Luther reached out to the 213 Chinese students studying abroad at Portland State. She told them her office is here to help in any way possible and squash misinformation.
“I sent an email out last week just letting them know we’re here. They’re certainly worried about friends and family back home. They’re also concerned that there is a lot of misinformation out there and I’m always on the look-out for how to keep students safe and supported,” Luther said, “I don’t want them to be encountering people who might say something like, ‘oh you’re from China, I don’t want to get sick, I’m not going to be around you’."