MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - The deadly coronavirus that broke out in China is spreading concern worldwide, especially at airports.
Miami International Airport has set up a quarantine station to screen passengers for the virus.
No one coming in or out of the airport is too concerned about the virus hitting South Florida just yet, but Miami International has joined other airports across the country in accelerating the screening process.
Early Wednesday morning, 201 American passengers arrived in the U.S. on a jet chartered by the U.S. State Department to evacuate China.
They were screened before the flight and again when they landed in the U.S. The passengers were quarantined and kept apart from others to ensure that if they were sick, they do not spread the virus to anyone else.
They were evacuated from the consulate in Wuhan, China, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak that has spread to several other countries.
The State Department has warned Americans who have no essential business in China to postpone their trips.
At least 132 people have died from the virus, and there are 6,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in China.
At MIA, in an effort to prevent the coronavirus from spreading any further, staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be screening passengers.
“Right now, we’re educating our passengers, and we’re screening passengers,” said an MIA spokesperson. “There’s more than 20 airports across the nation right now that are doing the same thing, and that is all that we can do for now and just carefully monitoring the situation.”
However, not all passengers are worried about the coronavirus in the U.S.
“I’m honestly not scared,” said passenger Alex Torres. “We wash our hands all the time. We’re very clean, so as long as you do that, I think you’ll be OK.”
The World Health Organization has convened its expert committee to meet Thursday and discuss whether or not to classify the coronavirus as a global public health concern.
There are 68 cases outside of China, and the WHO wants to make sure they’re doing everything they can to prevent the coronavirus from spreading any further.
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