With 2 possible cases in the state, North Texas prepares for the coronavirus
Editor’s note: Both students tested negative for the coronavirus on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27.
North Texas leaders are ramping up efforts to respond to the coronavirus, in the event that anyone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area shows symptoms of the fast-spreading disease that originated just last month in China.
Two students at Texas colleges are being tested for possible cases.
At DFW Airport, American Airlines is providing extra supplies of sanitary wipes on flights to and from several Chinese cities. American offers nonstop service from DFW to Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. American also is giving flight crews the option of wearing protective face masks on flights to and from those cities, even though the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t recommended such action.
“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority,” Curtis Blessing, American spokesman, said in an email. “We are in close contact with the US Customs & Border Protection (CBP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health officials and will coordinate with them on any required health and safety related measures.”
However, no additional screening is being required of passengers arriving at DFW on international flights, airport spokesman Bill Begley said.
“DFW Airport is not among the U.S. airports identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to execute enhanced screening of individual passengers for signs of the coronavirus,” Begley said in a statement. “DFW Airport’s first responders are trained and prepared to support the CDC and the Tarrant County Public Health Department if enhanced screenings are deemed necessary.”
Tarrant County Public Health has activated its operations center, to ensure that all the various health care providers, government officials and other responders in the Fort Worth area are communicating properly, sharing information and responding quickly.
“We are working with local hospitals on an ongoing basis to advise if patients meet CDC recommendations for testing,” Richard Hill, Tarrant County Public Health spokesman, said in an email. “If we receive a confirmation of a case of novel coronavirus, further communication will be provided to the public and media.”
Two coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the United States. Also, Texas officials are investigating two unconfirmed cases involving a student at Texas A&M University and a student at Baylor University.
“The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District has notified us that a Baylor student recently in China is being tested for a possible case of coronavirus,” the university said in a statement Friday. “Public health officials say the immediate health risk to the BU campus community is low.”
“Working through a coordinated response with the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District and following guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Baylor moved the individual to an isolated room on campus as a precaution,” the university said. “Facility Services also thoroughly sanitized the student’s residence hall room, as well as the residence hall where the individual lived. The student is being monitored by Baylor, state and local health officials.”
Texas A&M hopes to hear back from the CDC by Monday regarding whether its suspected case is confirmed, university spokesman Kelly Brown said. Activities are generally continuing as normal at the campus, Brown said.
Paramedics in the Dallas-Fort Worth region also are stepping up their precautions, said MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky.
“We are beginning additional dispatch and on-scene patient screening for any 911 calls in which the patient has a respiratory ailment,” Zavadsky said. “The additional screening includes questions regarding the patient’s recent history of travel to areas where the coronavirus has been suspected or close contact with people from affected areas who are symptomatic for a respiratory infection.”
Ambulance crews also are being outfitted with additional protective equipment, including splash guards, hoods and gloves, he said.
At Tarrant County Public Health, chief epidemiologist Russell Jones said his office is in regular contact with the CDC regional office in Houston to discuss possible next steps for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
One option could be to provide international travelers arriving at DFW Airport with placards describing what symptoms to look for and how to call for help.
Jones said many of the people who are being tested for coronavirus in the United States are college students returning from study-abroad trips to central China.
Jones said the Texas A&M student did not develop symptoms until four to five days after arriving back home from the trip, so anyone who traveled with him probably has a low risk of exposure to the virus. Less certain, he said, is how many people had contact with the student after he arrived back in Texas and began to feel bad.
The symptoms of coronavirus are similar to influenza, and include a cough and shortness of breath. Jones said the incubation period for developing symptoms appears to be about two weeks.
North Texans who have flu-like symptoms and either traveled to Wuhan, China, or have been in recent contact with someone who traveled to Wuhan should go to an emergency room, Jones said. He added that anyone with symptoms should call the emergency room ahead of time, if possible, so the caregivers have time to make preparations to isolate the patient from the rest of the population.
Still unclear is just how contagious coronavirus is, and how much of the population might be immune to it, he said.
“We don’t have a good grasp, because it’s so early,” Jones said.
The coronavirus, which typically is the kind of virus passed from one animal to another, is believed to have jumped to a human at a seafood market in Wuhan. It was first detected in December.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 1:43 PM.
