Portland International Airport is not conducting any additional screening of inbound passengers to determine whether they may have been exposed to coronavirus, the respiratory illness that originated in central China late last year.

Port of Portland officials confirmed Wednesday that the federal government had not directed PDX to take action against the outbreak. The government this week ordered 15 additional airports start screening incoming passengers. Seattle is conducting such screenings, which includes questionnaires about recent travel and federal health staffers taking passengers’ temperatures with handheld thermometers that don’t touch a person’s skin.

Kama Simonds, a Port spokeswoman, said the airport does not have any nonstop flights from China, and that travelers from that country are being rerouted through airports with additional screening stations before connecting to their final destinations.

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Oregon. One case was confirmed in Washington state.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Wednesday there were five confirmed cases in the U.S. and 92 pending cases.

Coronavirus appears to have originated in Wuhan, China. There are more than 6,000 confirmed cases in that country, including outside the city of Wuhan. Some 132 people had died as of Wednesday, according to the New York Times.

There have been no deaths outside of China.

Coronavirus’ death rate is easily outpaced by more common ailments. According to 2018-19 figures, some 32,200 U.S. deaths were associated with influenza.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

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