Delta Halts Some Routes To, From MSP Airport Over Coronavirus Concerns
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The results came back negative Thursday for the latest Minnesotan tested for the coronavirus.
The world-wide spread of the disease has rattled the stock market. Thursday was the worst one-day point-drop in the history of the Dow Jones industrial average.
Meanwhile, Delta is reducing and cancelling some routes for the next few months because of the coronavirus.
One of the last direct Delta flights arrived in Minneapolis from South Korea Thursday night.
Most people at MSP Airport are not wearing masks, but most passengers arriving from South Korea are -- and some of them have incredible stories.
Ashley Nelson of Eagan was spending her senior year of college studying engineering in Seoul at Korea University.
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"Within six hours after that, I got about 10 different emails going from, 'OK, somethings happening,' to, 'You need to get home now," Nelson said.
An outbreak recently popped up six miles from Nelson's school.
"I booked a flight within 10 minutes, started packing all my stuff overnight, and had one day to get all my stuff together, and I was outta there," Nelson said. "It went from zero to 100 really, really quick."
Sven Berg of Duluth who was traveling in Thailand. He had a 10-hour layover in Seoul before catching a flight home to Minneapolis.
"We were happy to get on the flight," Berg said.
He says everyone from security workers to flight attendants and other passengers were wearing masks.
"They have kind of public service announcements," Berg said. "'Please wear a mask,' 'Wash your hands,' stuff like that."
Ashley Buck also flew through Seoul on her way home from Delhi.
"It's totally different here. Walking in, there's like nobody wearing masks [laughs]!" Buck said.
The arrival is a relief for Nelson, who says she's been hiding in her room for a week.
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"Honestly, it was a ghost town," Nelson said. "There was nobody out there, and everyone's, I mean, they've all got masks. I saw people with, like, plastic bags covering their heads."
Her senior year abroad may have been cut short, but she's happy that's the worst thing that happened.
"I feel like I'm going to wake up tomorrow and be like, 'Did that all really just happen? Like, did I have to flee a country because of a major, you know, virus?'"
The last Delta flight leaving Minneapolis for South Korea is Friday, and the last in-coming flight is on Saturday.