Wuhan Coronavirus! Screening Options Available to Airports

With today’s declaration by the WHO that the Wuhan coronavirus is officially a global health emergency, the demand for enhanced health screenings at airports will increase.

This week, health officials stepped up screening efforts to include 20 US airports and many more around the world. These airports correspond to the CDC’s quarantine stations situated at 20 ports of entry across the country, USA Today reported. They receive about 90% of passengers from China, Vice President Mike Pence said this week.

These are the 20 U.S. airports screening for the coronavirus. Here’s what it entails.

As reported by Curtis Tate and Jayme Deerwester  in USA TODAY, here is what the screening process entails:

The Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday revealed more details about the government’s plans to expand coronavirus screening efforts in the United States, with the list of participating airports increasing from five to 20.

Scott Pauley of the CDC confirmed to USA TODAY that the 20 airports align with the center’s existing quarantine stations that cover all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The stations are part of the CDC’s system for limiting the introduction and spread of contagious diseases in the U.S.

Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech Monday that these airports collectively handle about 90% of passengers arriving from China, where the coronavirus outbreak originated.

Here’s the expanded list of airports (screenings at the top five were already taking place):

1. Los Angeles International
2. San Francisco International
3. Chicago O’Hare
4. New York JFK
5. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International
6. Houston George Bush Intercontinental
7. Dallas-Fort Worth International
8. San Diego International
9. Seattle-Tacoma International
10. Honolulu International
11. Anchorage Ted Stevens International
12. Minneapolis-St. Paul International
13. Detroit Metropolitan
14. Miami International
15. Washington Dulles International
16. Philadelphia International
17. Newark Liberty International
18. Boston Logan International
19. El Paso International
20. Puerto Rico’s San Juan Airport

Coronavirus: Screenings to expand to 15 new US airports; CDC warns against travel to China

“The coming days and weeks are likely to bring more confirmed cases here and around the world, including the possibility of some person-to-person spread,” CDC director Robert Redfield said earlier in a news conference Tuesday. “But our goal of the ongoing U.S. public-health response is to contain this outbreak and prevent sustained spread of the virus in our country.”

The changing nature of the situation means that airports will need to implement ever changing layouts to manage passenger flow into and out of screening areas.  Ideally passengers from high risk zones will arrive in a separate terminal and emergency health screening is conducted in a private room, but that is not always practically feasible and given the increasing magnitude of the current pandemic looks unlikely.

Airports will therefore need to provide segregated walkways and cubicles for consultations.  The Wuhan coronavirus is predominantly transmitted by touch or droplets from a sneeze and therefore any such screening should be taller than a person and easy to clean.  As the situation unfolds these setups are likely to need to change in order to flex for the changing demands on space and security requirements.   As such, traditional methods of temporary hoardings will not suffice due to the time and cost for their installation. Traditional methods of flexible partitioning will also not work as they cannot offer the required infection isolation.

In such situations a mobile reconfigurable, large hygienic screening system is needed.  Airports demand portability with ease of storage, ease of use and speed of set up, while passengers require large hygienic and easy to clean dividers which do not intimidate or cause anxiety.

KwickScreen – a company based in London UK manufactures and distributes this unique patented portable hoarding system worldwide. Supplying airports, hospitals and government institutions to be prepared for such emergencies. Their mobile screening system enables over 42 meters (140 feet) of screen to be moved by one person in a compact trolley.  The screens are flexible and reconfigurable and interconnecting such that in seconds they can be deployed to create any layout required.

The specific applications for KwickScreen in airports includes:

Emergency Medical Partitioning

With large throughput of people, unexpected medical instances are a common occurrence. In such cases portable KwickScreens can be wheeled to the scene quickly in order to maintain the patients dignity, shield the scene from passers-by and to ensure staff or medical professionals can attend to the patient effectively.

Security Partitioning

KwickScreens can be wheeled out to create instant privacy for security checks when a private area is required, and quickly retracted when not in use. Screens can also be used to partition off areas where essential maintenance works are being carried-out, or to simply zone off an area where staff do not wish passengers to go through – such as a closed gate or non active security desk.

Branding & Way-finding

KwickScreens can be printed with bespoke airline advertising and branding to promote services throughout check-in, terminals and gates. Screens can also be used as a means of way-finding and signage through Transport Security Administration (TSA) Checkpoints and other zones.

Crowd Control

Screens can be used to manage through flow of passengers across terminals or though bottleneck zones, and are far more substantial than more traditional means of block-aiding such as belt barriers.

Duo Mobile Screen System by KwickScreen

Our most flexible product, the KwickScreen DMS is the total privacy solution.

The DMS has a lightweight and open design, comprised of two screens that are attached to a central base with a ridgid central panel for full privacy.

Each panel has incredible flexibility with a 360 degree range of movement and a full three metre extension. The screen can be manipulated to create a unique L-shape configuration to fit around a bed or any obstruction, or pulled out to a fully extended 6 metre width. Set on high-quality castors for full portability and full swivel for a high degree of maneuverability. With no aluminium extrusion casing the unit has minimal footprint, especially when retracted it will fit into a small storage space easily.

Click here for more information on the Duo Mobile Screen System

— Latest Coronavirus News: 31st January 2020 —

Two coronavirus cases confirmed in UK

Coronavirus live updates and latest news: the WHO has declared the virus a global public health emergency

Two members of the same family in the UK have tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, England’s chief medical officer has confirmed.

Cases in the UK had long been expected. The virus has already spread to 18 other countries outside China.

The Department of Health declined to say where in England the patients were from but they were not in the Wirral area, where a special facility has been set up to quarantine Britons evacuated from Wuhan in China.

“We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus. The patients are receiving specialist NHS care, and we are using tried and tested infection control procedures to prevent further spread of the virus,” said the chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty.