TAMPA, Fla. — Fear over Wuhan coronavirus is hitting close to home.
There are no confirmed cases of the virus in the Tampa Bay area, but with so many visitors here from all over the world, it’s got travelers, among others - nervous.
“Better safe than sorry,” Joe Head said Tuesday, while wearing a surgical mask as he was about to board his flight to Chicago.
“And yes, it has to do with the coronavirus. It has been found in Chicago, so I’m taking precautions.”
The government is taking precautions too.
The rapid spread of the coronavirus is now serious enough that the Centers for Disease Control has expanded screening for the virus to 20 airports.
In Florida, that includes Miami, but so far not Tampa International.
Still, TPA managers say they recognize the area is a tourist destination, and therefore more vulnerable.
“We have people coming in from all over the world,” airport spokesperson Christine Osborn said.
“And so, you’ll see signs posted in our restrooms that everyone should be washing their hands thoroughly. Using the hand sanitizer if necessary.”
That’s why Jennifer Jetmore said Tuesday she was wearing a mask as well. Jetmore is not even a passenger. She was at TPA to pick up her sister, but she was concerned about the crowd.
“I’m just overly cautious. I know that airports are places where people travel from all over,” said Jetmore. “And Tampa, obviously, gets an awful lot of travel from all around the country. And some international travel too.”
Some airport workers, like Karen Slade who checks passenger ID’s all day, says she’s noticed a lot more people wearing masks.
Starting Wednesday, Slade says she and her colleagues will be issued latex gloves. “And we will have facial mask if we decide to wear those as well,” she said.
Tampa‘s biggest cruise lines are also taking precautions.
Royal Caribbean canceled two of its voyages in China. But so far, there have been no itinerary changes here. All of the cruise lines say they’re in close contact with the CDC.
“You expose yourself to a higher level of risk,” Head saud, “And you have to do what you can to mitigate that.”
Jetmore agreed.
“I don’t think I’m being phonetically cautious. I think I’m just being cautious,” she said.
Unlike airports that are on the CDC list, Tampa International says it is not a point of entry for any flight originating in China, so if somebody did come here from there, they would presumably have entered the US through another airport where they would been screamed for the coronavirus.
Still, the airport says it is in constant contact with the CDC and the health department and is prepared to implement any changes deemed necessary.
Osborn says during the SARS outbreak a few years ago, the airport added signage urging people to wash their hands frequently. Those signs, as well as hand sanitizing stations, have remained in place ever since, she says, as a matter of good hygiene.
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