MARION COUNTY — The Marion County Health Department is hoping to inform and alleviate any concerns of Marion County residents surrounding the screening process for the coronavirus among travelers from China.

According to Director of Clinical Services Marion Shelly Yoder, all international flights from the Hubei Province and mainland China are being routed through 11 designated airports in the United States. The airports are located in the following states; Illinois, New York, California, Washington, Hawaii, Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas and Michigan.

Travelers arriving from the Hubei Province and mainland China will be screened at the port of entry by special teams located at the designated airports. If a traveler is found to be symptomatic upon arrival, the person will immediately be isolated at the airport and not allowed to continue to their travel destination.

Symptoms the team will be monitoring for are fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.

Travelers with no symptoms will be allowed to reach their travel destination under the supervision of the Health Department. Persons that are being monitored are called “PUI’s” or persons under investigation.

The State Health Department will first be notified of the PUI and given the traveler’s destination address and pertinent contact information.

The State Health Department will immediately notify the local Health Department in the jurisdiction of the traveler’s destination address. The local Health Department will contact, supervise and monitor the traveler.

The local Health Department will monitor the reported traveler for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days. Based on the person’s travel and health history, during the 14 day monitoring the person under investigation may be required to be quarantined or isolated to protect the public and prevent the spread of the virus.

Yoder says Marion County has not received any notification of persons under investigation for COVID-19.