First coronavirus patient in Mississippi traveled through Gulfport-Biloxi airport
More details were reported Thursday about the first known case of COVID-19 in Mississippi, including that the Forrest County man traveled through the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport.
Clay Williams, executive director at the airport, confirmed the man flew out of Gulfport on his trip to Florida and later returned through the Gulfport airport.
Dr. Steven Farrell, chief medical officer at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, said during a press conference the patient did not yet have symptoms when he landed in Gulfport.
Not until a day and a half after his return did the man become ill, Farrell said, then he called his doctor, put on a mask and went to a clinic to get tested.
“He’s been in isolation the whole time,” Farrell said.
The person who was sitting next to the man on the plane had traveled with him the whole time, Farrell said, and also has been tested for the new coronavirus.
“We believe he may become ill as well,” he said.
Williams said flights are following their regular schedules and “enhanced sanitation and hygiene practices are under way” at the airport to prevent any spread of virus. High-traffic areas like the TSA checkpoints, elevators and escalators are being cleaned at great frequency, he said.
But Farrell said those who traveled at the same time as the Forrest County man should be safe.
“People are not at risk simply walking past him at the airport,” Farrell said.
The virus has an incubation period of anywhere between two and 14 days, he said, with the median time of 5 days. While the virus is incubating, a person is considered to be a relatively low risk of being contagious, he said.
“This virus doesn’t float around in the air waiting to be breathed in,” he said. Those who are more than six feet from a person who has the virus and is coughing are at what the Center for Disease Control would consider a low risk, he said.
“There’s a lot of panic and overreacting,” Farrell said.
The doctor said his wife is going to be flying out of Gulfport this weekend. “I think she’s going to be fine,” he said.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 6:18 PM.
