November 13, 2020

Risk Assessment and Management of COVID-19 Among Travelers Arriving at Designated U.S. Airports, January 17–September 13, 2020

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

Keywords (Tags): transmission

• Symptom-based screening of travelers at US airports to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 was found to be resource-intensive and ineffective. From mid-January to mid-September, a total of 766,044 travelers were screened, 298 (0.04%) of whom met criteria for public health assessment. 35 of those passengers (0.005%) were tested for SARS-CoV-2, and nine (0.001%) were positive. Overall, this approach yielded about one case for every 85,000 travelers screened.

Dollard et al. (Nov 13, 2020). Risk Assessment and Management of COVID-19 Among Travelers Arriving at Designated U.S. Airports, January 17–September 13, 2020. MMWR. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6945a4