美国国家公共电台 NPR U.S. Coronavirus Quarantine And Travel Limits: Needed Protect（在线收听）

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We want to bring in the latest on another major story that we are watching closely - coronavirus. The outbreak keeps intensifying. China is now reporting more than 2,800 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to more than 17,000. At least 360 people have died from this. The Philippines is reporting that country's first death, the first outside China.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Here in the U.S., at least three more coronavirus cases have been confirmed in California, bringing the total to at least 11 in the United States. The Trump administration is now imposing strong measures to try to protect Americans. These actions are drawing both praise and concern.

Let's bring in NPR Health correspondent Rob Stein, who's in Washington. Hi there, Rob.

ROB STEIN, BYLINE: Hey, David.

GREENE: And Rob, just bring us up to date. I mean, it sounds like this outbreak really is spreading quickly.

STEIN: Yeah. And as of 5 p.m. last night Eastern time, the federal government started banning anyone traveling from China who isn't a U.S. citizen or an immediate family member of an American from entering the United States. And in addition to that, any Americans returning to the U.S. from China's Hubei province - that's the epicenter of the outbreak - are being quarantined for 14 days at military bases around the country. A planeload of people who came back last week are already quarantined at an Air Force base in California.

This is the first time in 50 years the federal government is using its quarantine authority. And U.S. citizens who have been in any other parts of China in the past two weeks are being subject to screening at airports and close monitoring for 14 days. And as of early this morning, all flights from China are now being rerouted through 11 airports. So this is all pretty aggressive, unprecedented stuff.

GREENE: Yeah. I mean, a quarantine is a huge deal - right? - I mean, for U.S. health officials to take that step. What are experts saying about that response?

STEIN: Yeah. So you know, most of the public health experts I've talked to over the last few days say some of these steps do make sense given how many uncertainties there are about this virus and how dangerous it might be - that, you know, quarantining people who are at high risk of having been exposed to the virus, that might be a smart idea, although they quibble about some of the logistics and how it's being done. But many are really worried about some of these steps, particularly the travel ban - that it might, you know, just go too far and actually be counterproductive. Here's Lawrence Gostin from Georgetown University.

LAWRENCE GOSTIN: I think that the Trump administration is sliding from complacency and overconfidence to panic and overreaction to a point where we're going to instill panic and fear in the American public. We have to keep our head here and remain calm.

GREENE: I mean, panic, fear - what other concerns are there exactly with implementing such a strict travel restriction?

STEIN: So you know, critics say, historically, travel restrictions simply just, you know, haven't worked. That's why the World Health Organization is advising against banning travel. I mean, the critics say that it could actually make it a lot harder to get this thing under control if countries start closing borders. With - China could stop, you know, cooperating with the rest of the world to get this outbreak under control. And it could be harder to do things like get people and supplies in and out of countries to fight the outbreak. And where could this lead? You know, if the U.S. starts banning people from other countries, the fear is they could start hiding cases.

GREENE: That's NPR's Health correspondent Rob Stein. Rob, thanks a lot.

STEIN: You bet.