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DFW Airport Screens Travelers, Airlines Suspend Flights To Slow Spread Of Coronavirus

Fort Worth based American Airlines is suspending flights to China.
American Airlines Group
Fort Worth based American Airlines is suspending flights to China.

Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is among 11 airports across the country receiving and screening travelers "to protect the American people from exposure to the coronavirus," according to the Department of Homeland Security

Passengers who have recently traveled from or through China will receive enhanced screening for the new coronavirus at DFW. U.S. citizens and immediate family traveling from China in the last 14 days will also be screened. 

The KERA Radio Story

“The strategy is not intended to catch every single traveler returning from China with 2019 novel coronavirus,” the CDC’s Dr. Nancy Messonnier said in a news conference. “The goal is to slow the entry of this virus into the United States.”

A team including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are conducting the screenings. 

Other major airports that are also receiving and screening travelers include: John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. 

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security said the designated airports will also be equipped to quarantine passengers. 

Several airlines that service North Texas have suspended flights to and from China as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus outbreak. 

Fort Worth-based American Airlines’ flights to the Chinese mainland, which land in Beijing and Shanghai, have been suspended through March 27. 

Monday, American also canceled flights from Hong Kong after the U.S. State Department raised the China Travel Advisory to Level 4, “Do Not Travel.” The airline said it would assess future Hong Kong flights on a daily basis. 

Delta flightsto China have been suspended from Feb. 6 through April 30. 

Other airlines at DFW Airport who have suspended flights to China include: Air Canada, Air France, British Airways, Emirates, QANTAS, Qatar Airways and United, according to Reuters

KERA's Stella Chavez contributed to this report.

Copyright 2020 KERA

Elizabeth Myong