For weeks now, people entering most Austin hospitals or clinics have faced a new line of questioning: Have you recently traveled to China? Do you have any symptoms that match a viral respiratory illness?

No cases of the new coronavirus that has caused a global health scare have been confirmed in the Austin area, but officials say, if cases were discovered, the city is ready.

"I think Austin is uniquely prepared for mass illnesses and mass casualties because we have such large venues, with (Austin City Limits Music Festival), with (Circuit of the Americas), with South by Southwest," said Dr. Coburn Allen, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Texas Dell Medical School. "We have been very proactive thinking about worst-case scenarios for a really long time."

Austin’s largest international event since the coronavirus outbreak began will be next month, when tens of thousands of people from around the world are expected to flood into the city for SXSW.

"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as necessary," festival officials said.

A number of tech companies that operate in Central Texas but have deep ties to China — such as Silicon Labs and Dell Technologies — say they, too, are monitoring developments, while others like Ambiq Micro and Cirrus Logic are adhering to travel restrictions and delaying trips.

Illnesses linked to the coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, first broke out in the industrial city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province. Travelers from Wuhan entering the United States have been placed under mandatory federal quarantine.

Although more than 80,000 people around the world have been infected, with about 2,700 deaths, mostly in China, only 14 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the United States — not counting people who returned to the U.S. via evacuation flights — as of Tuesday, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But all Americans should begin for preparing for the spread of coronavirus, CDC officials said Tuesday. Health care systems could become overloaded, and law enforcement, transportation services and emergency medical services also could be affected if coronavirus becomes widespread in the United States, the CDC said.

"It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The closest cases of coronavirus to Austin were confirmed in San Antonio this month. A person under quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was diagnosed and taken to a hospital in San Antonio, officials said Feb. 13.

Since then, at least two others in quarantine in San Antonio have been diagnosed, according to city officials.

If persons in Austin were diagnosed with the coronavirus, health officials would first determine whether they needed to be hospitalized and put into an isolation room or kept at home with limited access to family members, said interim Health Authority and Austin Public Health medical director Dr. Mark Escott.

The public would be informed about the coronavirus diagnosis through a news conference held by state and local officials, he said.

City health officials are monitoring people who recently traveled to China. The number of people being monitored changes daily, but Escott said the city has received notifications for more than 200 people.

The monitored people are put under a "control order," which limits the number of visitors they can have. For 14 days, their temperatures are taken twice daily, and health officials must be contacted if they need to leave their homes or have a medical condition.

Notices in the 911 system let first responders know to wear protective gear if they are called to a home with a person under a control order, Escott said.

"These individuals have been very compliant, and, again, we are greatly appreciative of their support and helping to protect our community," he said.

Austin health officials don’t want the city to move into a phase where officials are unable to control the spread of a disease, whether it’s the coronavirus or a seasonal flu bug, Escott said.

"That’s sort of like influenza right now — it’s spreading in the community, and we’re not able to effectively control it," Escott said. "(It) is what’s happening in Wuhan right now."

During an uncontrollable spread, the city would shut down outbreak spots and warn against practices that can expose you to germs, such as shaking hands.

Avoiding an uncontrollable spread of the coronavirus would give health officials time to identify a treatment regimen and possibly a vaccine, Escott said.

University of Texas researchers announced last week that they had made a breakthrough toward developing a vaccine for the new coronavirus.

Current hospital operations

As the coronavirus has spread to countries outside of China, Allen of the Dell Medical School said the day-to-day operations at the hospitals he visits has not changed. Allen has credentials for six or seven hospitals in Austin, but he only visits about four each day for consultations.

"We have been routinely screening since, really 2000, for ongoing potential pandemics, so it’s become part of our day-in-day-out in what questions we should be asking," said Allen, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases and pediatric emergency medicine.

Officials will ask a handful of general questions and then move into a more specific line of questioning depending on what’s circulating around the world. The same protocol was used with outbreaks of other notable deadly viruses such as SARS, MERS and H1N1, he said.

"This is just the most recent version of that," Allen said.

If a person recently traveled to China, or thinks they have been exposed to someone with coronavirus and exhibited respiratory virus symptoms, like a fever or cough, they would be put into a negative-pressure isolation room, Allen said. In a negative-pressure room, the air is sucked into the room instead of being pushed out into a hallway.

Health officials would treat them while wearing such protective gear as gloves, masks and goggles.

If health officials think the person might have the coronavirus, they would report their findings to Austin Public Health officials, Allen said.

Officials at the Texas Department of State Health Services, the state’s lead agency on coronavirus preparations, have been communicating daily with health care providers, medical associations and local officials about the disease, agency spokesman Chris Van Deusen said.

In the last several weeks, the state agency has surveyed hospitals about their supplies of personal protective equipment and made sure it has had stockpiles of face shields and respirators.

"We are encouraging health care providers to be judicious about using personal protective equipment because we know there has been a shortage of some supplies," Van Deusen said.

Tamping down fears

Panicked people have not been storming emergency rooms with coronavirus suspicions, Allen said. But he expects emergency rooms will see an increase in visits if a coronavirus case is confirmed in Austin.

That phenomenon has happened with confirmed cases of measles, mumps and pertussis, he said.

Escott said the people who are being monitored in Austin are of multiple nationalities and were traveling on a business or academic trip or for vacation.

"I bring that up because we have seen some indications of discrimination which is based on fear," Escott said.

He said officials have received questions and concerns from the general public about using Chinese products, like televisions or cellphones. There’s no indication that those things are unsafe, he said.

Earlier this month, the Round Rock school district sent a letter to the community addressing concerns over the coronavirus affecting the Austin Chinese Culture Festival at Westwood High School. It said that, after consulting with health officials, the district decided against canceling the festival, as the likelihood of contracting the virus in Texas remains low.

But the letter also stated Westwood High would be thoroughly cleaned after the event, which drew a swift backlash online, with several community members saying they were offended by the letter while others called it racist.

Escott said he has heard from others who are worried about visiting Chinese- or Asian American-operated businesses.

"It is very inappropriate for folks to identify Asian Americans as more likely to have coronavirus," Escott said.

Allen said the flu is a bigger threat than is the coronavirus, which has a mortality rate of 2% to 2.5%.

"It’s significant, but it’s not as deadly as things like Ebola, MERS or SARS, and we need people to understand that the real danger is not in getting the infection, the real danger is in the uncontrolled spread of the infection," Escott said.

People in their 60s, 70s, or 80s are at a higher risk of dying from the coronavirus, and especially those who have other health issues, such as diabetes or heart or lung disease.

"I think, truthfully, we will probably have ten to hundredfold more people die of flu this year than we will have died of coronavirus," he said.

Statesman reporters Hojun Choi and Asher Price contributed to this article.