DETROIT (WXYZ) — Saturday, Delta announced it would move up plans to temporarily suspend flights to and from China, amid growing concerns over the Coronavirus.
According to the airline's website:
"The airline had previously announced a plan to suspend operations effective Feb. 6 but advanced that timeline based on new U.S. requirements that will deny entry to foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the past two weeks, or subject to possible quarantine those U.S. citizens who have been in China’s Hubei province."
"The last China-bound flight departing the U.S. occurred on Saturday, Feb. 1 while the last return flight back to the U.S. departed China on Feb. 2."
Last week, American, Delta, and United announced plans to temporarily halt service to and from China due to the spreading virus, which as of Sunday has killed more 300 people worldwide and made thousands more sick.
The Detroit Metro Airport is also now screening for the virus, as are several other major airports in the U.S.
And Sunday, the Detroit Metro Airport was added to a list of major U.S. airports where the U.S. government has established enhanced screening procedures and the capacity to quarantine passengers if needed. That lists includes:
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii
Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Georgia
Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas
Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan
“Right now I don’t think they know enough about it to make any kind of determination because it’s so new," said Stacey Blackburn, traveling out of the Detroit Metro Airport.
Other passengers are taking extra precautions following recent warnings.
“We spent most of the day today trying to kind like face masks," passenger Tarek Doghish said.
There are 11 cases confirmed in the U.S. so far. There are confirmed cases in California, Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington.
There are no confirmed cases in Michigan.
Some passengers are less worried about getting sick and more worried about these new restrictions could impact their travel plans.
Syed Ahmed was traveling from Detroit to Egypt bug going through Paris.
"I’m a little bit worried about Paris in terms of I know they have a lot of international flights coming in from all over the place. I’m not sure if they have the same restrictions we’ve imposed.”
Delta said it expects flights to and from China to remain suspended through late April.
