Passengers on board a Hainan Airlines flight, where someone was reported sick, from Beijing to Boston Wednesday said they remain wary as the coronavirus continues to spread.
That ill passenger did not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for the virus, officials said, but that didn’t keep others on the same flight into Logan International Airport from taking precautions.
“I checked my temperature five times before I came to America,” said passenger Yang Gao.
“I think I’m okay, but I don’t want to possibly infect others,” said Eric Wang, another passenger on the same flight.
“I don’t know if I was infected or not. I want to protect other people because I came from China,” added passenger Hibing Peng, who donned a mask.
Passengers said they did not have their temperature taken or symptoms checked upon arrival at Logan.
Others at Terminal E said halting flights to and from China, as some airlines have started to do, would be unnecessary.
“I think canceling flights is too much,” said Hosam Adballah, an internal medicine physician from Jordan, who was waiting to pick up his father at Logan Wednesday. “I think prevention is the key, because there is no treatment for the coronavirus.”
The U.S. has not put into place travel restrictions, though Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said “it’s important to not take anything off the table,” when he was asked about that potential.
Still, many travelers at Logan said they think officials should step up screenings, given the nature of the virus.
“I think they can do more here. I understand the direct concern when coming in from China, but you don’t know who went through China or who you’ve come in contact with,” said Aliyah Gary, who was traveling to Boston from Paris.
“When we go home, we can’t go to public places,” said Liu Hongbin, who was traveling with his wife from Logan to their home in Tianjin, China.
Others at Logan told the Herald the airport should offer free surgical masks to all passengers to help ease concerns.
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