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United Airlines is first airline to cancel China flights, citing Coronavirus concerns


A United Airlines jet sits on the tarmac at Washington Dulles International (file photo){ }{p}{/p}
A United Airlines jet sits on the tarmac at Washington Dulles International (file photo)

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United Airlines announced Tuesday that it will suspend service between the United States and China from several of its major hub airports, including Washington, during the first week of February.

Coincidentally, the announcement comes just as the Centers for Disease Control plans to add more employees at Washington's Dulles airport to help screen passengers from China for the coronavirus.

The flight cancellations include daily non-stop service between Dulles Airport and China's capital, Beijing.

READ: Amid spike in coronavirus, local stores and suppliers are running out of face masks

“Due to a significant decline in demand for travel to China, we are suspending some flights between our hub cities and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai beginning Feb. 1 through Feb. 8," United said in a statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and will adjust our schedule as needed.”

Overall, 24 flights are affected from four of United's six North American hubs.

At Dulles, United says it has canceled outbound flights from Dulles to Beijing from February 2 through February 7, and it has canceled inbound flights from Beijing to Dulles starting February 3 through February 8. The company left open the possibility it will suspend flights between the two airports longer depending on how the situation develops.

Meanwhile, the CDC announced it is adding extra screening of passengers at 15 more U.S. airports, bringing the total to 20. The CDC says it will do the extra screening at airports where it already runs quarantine stations.

Locally only Dulles International Airport has a quarantine zone. An airport spokesperson says it is located near where international travelers go through customs.

“Our regular activities at quarantine stations focus on identifying ill patients, and that’s what we’re going to be doing here," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "Identifying ill travelers returning from China, so that we can make sure that they’re appropriately treated so that they don’t pass on this illness to others.”

Messonnier acknowledged some people with the coronavirus have not gotten sick until after flying back from China, so the extra screenings are just a part of a larger effort to keep the coronavirus from spreading in the United States.

READ: 7 passengers taken to hospital due to odor on plane, aircraft diverted to Dulles Airport


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