A lot of misinformation right now and speculation. The picture should become much clearer as time goes on of course.
Airport screening only looks at temperature. It's like airport security screening, it won't actually stop anything, it is just there to reduce FEAR. In other words, it's a joke. An infected person may be asymptomatic including not having an elevated body temperature. The question is, when does an infected person become a potential transmitter of the virus. In the case of SARS it was AFTER they showed symptoms while in this case it appears it MAY be being transmitted BEFORE a person shows symptoms and during the incubation period of up to 2 weeks. But even that is not 100% confirmed yet. As I say, it's too early yet and not enough hard facts are known.
Wearing a mask will protect OTHERS from someone who is infected being able to transmit the virus through droplets. In other words they can't cough on you. Wearing one will not protect the wearer to any real degree. IF the virus is transmitted by droplet, it would not extend to a whole airplane cabin, only to a small area of roughly 6 feet. Transmission by contact from your hands is less likely than from someone coughing. Wearing a mask to avoid someone coughing on your mouth and nose will not protect against a droplet getting in through your eyes. You'd need a full face mask for that. As I said, a lot of misinformation is going around.
What we know is that there is a new virus that has emerged and it CAN be fatal. Some people may suffer no more than a mild flu that they get over in a week or two. Some may suffer a more acute case and of those, some may die. That's what we know. SARS was roughly 10% fatal in reported cases.
What you can do to protect yourself is the same as you can do to protect yourself from the common cold or the annual winter flu that goes around. Good hygiene including using a hand sanitizer often yes but you will always still be at risk unless you avoid people entirely until it has run its course. Avoiding large groups of people is an obvious precaution and none more so than where large groups of travellers are to be found. ie. airports. You could catch this virus in your local supermarket but the chances are higher in an airport obviously.
Depending on how things play out, I do see this as POTENTIALLY affecting my travel plans in the near future. It all depends on whether they are able to contain it and bring it to an early end or not. In the case of SARS, the first case was reported in mid-November 2002 and WHO announced it was contained in mid-July 2003. In December 2003, WHO announced there had been 8096 cases reported in total and 774 deaths. Of those, Canada had 438 cases and 44 deaths. Looking at those numbers I would say Canada had a disproportionately high number given the population of our country. Canada is a country with a higher than average percentage of people of Chinese background which probably accounts for that I would think. What it tells me though is that we are probably at higher risk than in some other countries obviously.
To my way of thinking, you are at highest risk in an airport other than if you visited China. The question of whether an individual wants to take that risk is of course up to the individual. Just remember, the guy in Toronto walked through Toronto Airport on his way home and if he had coughed on you?
The odds may be long but the potential outcome is fatal, there's the rub. It is unlikely that you will be struck by lightening but you don't go and stand under a tree in a field to find out.
