BOSTON (WHDH) - Many passengers arriving at Boston’s Logan International Airport from China can be seen wearing face masks as staffers evaluate some of them for the deadly coronavirus.
Emergency vehicles greeted a plane that landed in Boston from Beijing on Wednesday to evaluate a sick passenger.
Boston EMS says the person did not meet the criteria for the virus and refused to be taken to the hospital.
Medics assessed other travelers onboard as well.
“I checked my temperature five times before I come to America,” one passenger said.
On Thursday, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh told reporters that he has full confidence in how Logan officials are handling the three daily flights that arrive from China.
“I’m not concerned with it. There’s screening, we’re doing the screening. We’re making sure that our EMS is on hand if need be. We’re making sure that all medical personnel is there. Certainly, we’re in Boston, so if somebody was to test positive for it, we have the greatest hospitals in the world right here.”
Gov. Charlie Baker added that he doesn’t believe the Massachusetts Port Authority needs to be taking any additional steps at this time to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“Our view on this is that what we really need to do is to provide surveillance, which we do through our departments of public health across the Commonwealth, up to the CDC as every other state is doing,” Baker said. “Then act on the direction and guidance we get from the CDC in respect to how they want to deal with this.”
Two people in New Hampshire who recently traveled to Wuhan have tested negative for the coronavirus, health officials said.
Students at Brookline High School will no longer be taking their planned trip to China next month amid coronavirus concerns.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has also canceled its coming tour of Asia amid concerns about the deadly virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent teams to international airports across the United States to set up quarantine stations as concerns over the virus spread.
“Our regular activities at quarantine stations focus on identifying ill patients. And that’s what we’re going to be doing here — identifying ill passengers returning from China so that we can make sure they’re appropriately treated, so that they don’t pass on this illness to others,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the Center for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The state department evacuated U.S. citizens from the center of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.
Before landing in California, the flight stopped in Alaska where passengers underwent health screenings.
The CDC has confirmed five cases of the virus in the U.S.
Sen. Ed Markey is calling for a TSAR to be named to coordinate the response to the coronavirus in the country.
“It’s critical that we have a comprehensive plan,” he said. “It’s critical that President Trump name a TSAR, he hasn’t done it yet, to coordinate all our efforts to limit any of the consequences of having this disease come into our country.”
Massachusetts General Hospital and others are preparing to treat those getting sick.
In China, about 170 people have died due to the coronavirus and nearly 8,000 cases have been confirmed.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)