Coronavirus outbreak: Detroit traveler taken to hospital for testing amid new enhanced screening process
Kristen Jordan ShamusA sick traveler who arrived Tuesday morning at Detroit Metro Airport is suspected of having the coronavirus and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, reports the Detroit Free Press, which is a part of the USA TODAY Network.
"This morning, a passenger arriving on a flight to Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) was discovered to be ill during the enhanced screening process," said Lisa Gass, a spokeswoman for the authority in an email to the Free Press on Tuesday evening. "Wayne County Airport Authority’s fire department transported the passenger to a local hospital for further testing."
Detroit Metro Airport is among 11 in the U.S. where travelers who've been to China in the last 14 days are being diverted for enhanced health screenings and quarantines as the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world and the death toll climbs.
Passengers were to be diverted to Metro Airport and the other 10 U.S. airports beginning Monday morning to prevent the spread of the pneumonia-like virus, which has sickened more than 20,000 people around the world and killed at least 426.
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"We have confirmed that there is a person under investigation (PUI) transported to a local hospital designated to receive passengers identified by CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for additional testing," said Michael McElrath, a spokesman for the Wayne County Health Division. "The process, outlined by the CDC, dictates that samples are sent to CDC with a turnaround time for test results in at least a 48-hour period."
McElrath estimated that Metro Airport is likely to see about two diverted travelers per day from China who've been rerouted for enhanced health screenings for coronavirus, and will be issued a level of risk based on those evaluations, he said.
Neither McElrath nor Gass was able to confirm whether the sick traveler was initially scheduled to arrive at Metro Airport or whether the person was diverted to Detroit. State health officials also were unable to confirm that late Tuesday.
CDC personnel at the airport are screening all passengers coming from China for fever, cough and difficulty breathing, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Respiratory Diseases.
But those coming from the region of China that's been hardest hit in the coronavirus outbreak — the Hubei province — will be screened by health officials at the airport for fever, cough and difficulty breathing and will be subjected to mandatory quarantines, Messonnier said.
"If symptomatic, American citizens and those who are exempt will be transferred for further medical evaluation," Messonnier said. "They will not be able to complete their itinerary and will be isolated for 14 days."
Those who do not have symptoms will be "subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine at or near that location," she said. "Remember, this is specifically for people who are returning from Hubei province. These people will not be able to complete their itinerary."
For asymptomatic travelers who came to the United States from other parts of China, Messonnier said they will "allowed to reach their final destination, and after arrival will be asked to stay home as much as possible and monitor their health for 14 days."
Those with symptoms from parts of China outside the Hubei province, she said, will be transferred for additional medical evaluations and possible quarantine.
McElrath would not disclose which Michigan hospitals or medical centers are treating potential coronavirus patients. Nor would he say where quarantined travelers who are not ill enough for hospitalization could be housed locally.
"We know where, but we're not going to share the location where people are quarantining," McElrath said. "We're just not going to do that. ... It's not a good practice for public health privacy and safety purposes."
However, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has an emergency response network in place for outbreaks like coronavirus.
Called the Special Pathogen Response Network, the protocol outlined suggests that patients would most likely be taken to Tier 1 or Tier 2 hospitals.
Statewide, only four hospitals — Detroit Receiving Hospital, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital — are classified as Tier 1. Three hospitals have Tier 2 designations — Beaumont Hospital-Wayne, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac.
"The Special Pathogen Response Network list was developed during the 2014 Ebola epidemic," said MDHHS spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin. "Hospitals self-designated, so selected their own tiers.
"Based on recent CDC guidance, patients that have tested positive for 2019-nCoV should be isolated in an airborne infection isolation room, a single-patient room at negative pressure relative to the surrounding areas, and with a minimum of 6 air changes per hour. So, facilities that can meet that criteria could potentially care for a positive case."
Customs and Border Patrol officers at the airport are working with health officials to help them identify passengers in need of screening, said Keith Hammond, a spokesman for the Detroit Field Office for Customs and Border Patrol.
"CBP is working with the CDC to identify arriving travelers who have a nexus to Wuhan and who require enhanced health screening," he said. "Those travelers are identified by CBP officers during their primary inspection and are referred to ... CDC personnel" for enhanced health screenings.
And cleaning crews at Metro Airport are stepping up efforts to clean — and hopefully wipe out germs — in the international arrivals areas in both the McNamara and North terminals at Metro Airport, said Wayne County Airport Authority CEO Chad Newton on Monday.
“Our team at Detroit Metropolitan Airport is committed to assisting our federal partners in their efforts to protect the public from exposure to the coronavirus,” Newton said.
“Although airport staff does not conduct passenger screening, our emergency responders are prepared to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health departments with medical transportation and police escorts, when needed."
Four people in Michigan with recent travel to China were suspected of having coronavirus in January, and underwent testing through the CDC. All four tests were negative.
The first U.S. case of coronavirus was identified on Jan. 21. Since then, 10 other people have been confirmed to have the illness in Washington state, California, Arizona, Illinois and Massachusetts. Of them, two did not travel to China and contracted it through close contact with a person sickened by the virus.
“While the overall risk to the American public remains low, funneling all flights with passengers who have recently been in China is the most important and prudent step we can take at this time to decrease the strain on public health officials screening incoming travelers," said Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf in a news release. "These steps will also expedite the processing of U.S. citizens returning from China, and ensure resources are focused on the health and safety of the American people.
“We realize this could provide added stress and prolong travel times for some individuals, however, public health and security experts agree these measures are necessary to contain the virus and protect the American people.”
The other 10 airports that are accepting diverted passengers are: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York; Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD); San Francisco International Airport (SFO); Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA); Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii; Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL); Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD); Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.
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