Debbie Roberson’s 49th voyage with Carnival Cruise Line looked different than previous trips: Crew members frequently disinfected the ship, offered hand sanitizer at entrances to common spaces and served food to tables, rather than relying on buffets.

The cruise line took those steps amid fears about the spread of the new coronavirus, which has infected more than 500 Americans in the past few weeks. Those concerns, however, weren’t enough to scare away Roberson, who disembarked Sunday in Galveston from a weeklong Caribbean jaunt and plans to reboard next week for trip No. 50 with Carnival.

“It’s not going to do anything to stop going to work, school, the store or church,” Roberson said as she sat on a bench outside the terminal exit, waiting for a shuttle.

The first trickle of reported COVID-19 cases in Greater Houston — 12, as of late Sunday, and all related to a Nile River cruise in Egypt — didn’t stop many residents from continuing their late-winter routines: visiting the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, attending children’s sporting events, traveling throughout the country and stopping by street festivals.

The relative calm so far reflects the minimal spread of the virus in Houston — even as health officials warn that the number of infected residents likely will grow in the coming days as testing becomes more readily available. Rice University canceled classes for the coming week and a smattering of events were postponed as a precaution, including Austin’s South by Southwest festival and Houston’s CERAWeek 2020 energy conference, but most area institutions have so far carried on without major interruption.

On HoustonChronicle.com: See the latest coronavirus updates and all our ongoing coverage

At the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show, muttons continued to be busted and the show went on, with about 375,000 visitors reported through Saturday. Attendance was down 14 percent through the first five days compared with recent years, though event officials noted crowd sizes often depend on the musical acts.

The threat of the coronavirus gave Jennifer Hoemberg minimal pause about bringing her 5-year-old son, Thomas, to NRG Center, though the two stopped at a hand-sanitizing station in the afternoon after a round of mutton bustin’, carnival games and zoo animal petting.

“We’re aware and we’re taking extra precautions, but we’re not going to stop doing what we want to do, which is rodeo,” Hoemberg said.

With the exception of more hand sanitizer and a handful of people browsing stalls in face masks — not uncommon given the smells and sawdust — the coronavirus had little visible imprint at the center.

Some vendors inside the center, however, reported fewer visitors than usual in the event’s first few days, though they were hesitant to attribute the drop-off to COVID-19 fears. Pat Durant, a salesman for Wyoming-based Skyhawk Rugs, said traffic through his booth wasn’t nearly as high as he’d expected Wednesday when Willie Nelson performed.

“Ordinarily, the crowds in here would be thicker than fleas on a dog,” Durant said. “And they weren’t.”

Rodeo officials said the nature of the event is significantly different than South by Southwest, which attracts far more people from overseas. As a result, rodeo leaders opted not to cancel.

Amid the bustle of a typical Houston weekend, reactions to the new coronavirus varied by age, experience and old-fashioned gumption.

At Griff’s Irish Pub in Montrose, which hosted its 23rd annual Irish Cook-Off and Music Festival on Saturday, Alan Leach rattled off reasons why he’s not concerned about catching the virus. The 61-year-old said he has worked in hospitals as a power systems engineer, does not believe the virus will cause major health issues and remains in good health — with the exception of a Ducati motorcycle wreck that broke 11 bones.

“Whatever I’m gonna die from won’t be a virus,” Leach said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: 11 Memorial Hermann workers asked to self-quarantine amid coronavirus

As she strolled Saturday through McGovern Centennial Gardens, Yen Le, who works at the UT Health Science Center at Houston, described taking a more cautious approach given her profession. Health care workers, the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions are among those most susceptible to infection and serious complications.

“How I think about it is it’s just getting ready for hurricane season a few months earlier, because the preparation is similar,” Le said.

At the first International Women’s Day Houston celebration, planners said they expected up to 500 people to attend but only 100 stopped by in the first four hours, likely due to concern about the virus. Ayesha Taqvi, who went to watch her sister speak at the George R. Brown Convention Center, said she doesn’t want her anxiety about the coronavirus to prevent her from participating in important causes.

“I’m taking precautions as being announced, but at the same time, what do you do? Life goes on,” Taqvi said. “As women, we need to be supportive of each other. … We’ve got to be a part of this.”

For Brooks Howell and his 16-year-old daughter, Caroline, the growing threat of the coronavirus prompted talks about skipping the weekend’s Sunshine Volleyball Classic in Orlando, Fla. Ultimately, Caroline and the 11 members of her travel team all made the trip from Houston.

“There’s a whole team involved,” Howell said in a phone interview from Orlando on Saturday. “If one person isn’t there, it affects everyone.”

Howell, however, conceded such normalcy might be short-lived, as fears grow about gatherings of large people where the virus could more easily spread.

Public health and civic leaders have sought to balance messages of caution without inciting panic, particularly given the uncertainty about how widely the virus will spread.

Rice University decided Sunday evening to cancel classes after one of its employees contracted the disease on a trip to Egypt. The area where the employee worked had been thoroughly disinfected, but officials said it isn’t worth the risk.

“Out of an abundance of caution and to allow faculty and staff time to prepare for possible remote instruction this semester, in-person classroom instruction and undergrad teaching labs for the week of March 9 are canceled,” university officials said in a news release.

Research will continue, but researchers are asked to consult with their advisers about how to proceed. Faculty can also provide their students material that can be completed remotely and doesn’t require group interaction.

All on-campus public events of 100-plus people are prohibited, including the president’s town hall. The University of Houston is on spring break beginning Monday but also advised its faculty to be prepared to teach online for the remainder of the spring semester should the outbreak worsen here.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Houston, announced Sunday night that he will self-quarantine after shaking hands with a coronavirus patient at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland in late February. He said he feels fine and wasn’t advised to undergo testing.

“Out of an abundance of caution, and because of how frequently I interact with my constituents as a part of my job and to give everyone peace of mind, I have decided to remain at my home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction,” Cruz wrote in a statement.

Jenny Deam, Samantha Ketterer and Paul Wedding contributed to this story.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com