# Coronavirus 747 config **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640 "2020-02-08T19:30:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/1 "2020-02-08T19:30:18Z")
So there are coronavirus patients being flown into Omaha’s Eppley airport for transfer to a quarantine facility at Camp Ashland. I tracked a 747-400 yesterday that was the quarantine flight, which may be the largest plane ever to land at Eppley. My questions are these: what would the internal configuration of the 747-400 look like? Are there small beds that would snap into the 747? Would there be rows of seats for the doctors / nurses or a seat next to each bed? How do the pilots and crew stay safe from contamination? What happens to the plane when the coronavirus slows down? Does this plane sit in the desert, waiting for the next bug to flare up? Or does it get decontaminated and go back to carrying cargo instead of sick humans? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/2 "2020-02-08T19:49:38Z")
Huh? I don’t believe they are flying obviously sick people–they check them before they board. So everyone would be sitting in normal seats, with very few doctors or nurses aboard. Probably everyone involved would wear face masks. The quarantine is to find the individuals infected but not showing symptoms at the time of the flight. Do you have a cite which suggests otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/3 "2020-02-08T19:52:32Z")
Well, I think that answers it, thanks PastTense. I assumed that there would be sick people on board, but it does make sense that these would be quarantine people potentially with the virus, but not yet symptomatic. I should have read about the process more before posting. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/4 "2020-02-08T20:52:31Z")
More strictly accurate it would be people who have been exposed to the virus and there is a risk they may be cooking it and not showing symptoms yet. Not sure of the circumstances of this plane-load, but an entire plane / ship / school / housing block could be quarantined because of an exposure risk, and the task of quarantine is to keep them isolated until the incubation period passes. The last estimate I heard of the incubation period was upto 13 days, but this could be refined as more exposure cases are studied. The detail that most people don’t realise is that its a rolling incubation, so if all is good in quarantine until Day 12 and someone shows symptoms, then the clock re-sets. Hopefully the quarantine facility further segregates so that its not everyone being shut in for a further 13 days. ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/5 "2020-02-08T21:32:33Z")
Interesting details Banksiaman. Makes sense. I didn’t know anything about the rolling quarantine, much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/6 "2020-02-08T21:45:17Z")
While I am not sure of the circumstances either, my guess is that it might be one of the two or so additional evacuations from Wuhan, China of American citizens. There is significant risk that some will be infected. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/7 "2020-02-08T22:22:49Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > The last estimate I heard of the incubation period was upto 13 days, but this could be refined as more exposure cases are studied. The detail that most people don’t realise is that its a rolling incubation, so if all is good in quarantine until Day 12 and someone shows symptoms, then the clock re-sets. Hopefully the quarantine facility further segregates so that its not everyone being shut in for a further 13 days. I haven’t fact-checked this, but I’ve heard that a case has turned up in the Australian quarantine facility, so they are opening a /second/ quarantine facility for the next tranche. All of the people on the first flight were checked and rechecked at every point in the transfer. Anybody showing fever would have separated into hospitalization or a medical transfer flight. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/8 "2020-02-08T23:24:27Z")
At the former Sydney Quarantine Station, which predates air travel, when ships came with either an infectious disease case on board, or from an outbreak port within the incubation period (which varies from a few days for influenza to weeks for typhus), sick passengers were hospitalised and the exposed passengers were accommodated according to class. The theory, which seems to have worked fairly well in practice was that on board the ship the first, second, third class passengers were unlikely to have mixed, so each was treated as a segregated population. Because technically they had not landed, the stewards, cooks etc for each class had to continue their roles while they were in quarantine. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/9 "2020-02-09T13:05:50Z")
1. After the quarantine period - if someone shows no symptoms and is released - are they now immune from the virus, or do they still have to stay away from (possibly) infected people? 2. After an infected person is treated, “cured”, and released - are they now immune from the virus, or do they still have to stay away from (possibly) infected people? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/10 "2020-02-09T14:00:36Z")
The BBC reported this morning that two people were forbidden from boarding the last UK flight out of Wuhan because they already had a high temperature. And I think I read somewhere that those on previous flights who developed any sort of symptoms in flight were to be moved well away from the rest. The implication is that the planes just have the usual seating, no special configuration. ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/11 "2020-02-09T16:13:23Z")
Patrick London: makes perfect sense. I know the 747 is huge so that certainly helps. The two levels of the 747 could act as a regular quarantine and symptomatic quarantine or similar, but that’s just speculation on my part. Makes sense that it would just be regular seating. Does the flu move slowly enough that there wouldn’t be a need for beds? The quarantine flights are probably 24 hours or less, so a passenger that was showing signs of fever at take off probably wouldn’t deteriorate enough to need a bed in that time? @Banksiaman - interesting info on the Sydney Quarantine Station. Interesting that the different classes of passenger were that completely segregated. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/12 "2020-02-09T17:06:57Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > 1. After the quarantine period - if someone shows no symptoms and is released - are they now immune from the virus, or do they still have to stay away from (possibly) infected people? > > 2. After an infected person is treated, “cured”, and released - are they now immune from the virus, or do they still have to stay away from (possibly) infected people? With (1) I think you have to assume there’s a (good) chance they were never exposed. So no, you can’t assume they are immune. With (2) they are probably immune, at least for a while. > [@suretytek](#): > > …Makes sense that it would just be regular seating. Does the flu move slowly enough that there wouldn’t be a need for beds? The quarantine flights are probably 24 hours or less, so a passenger that was showing signs of fever at take off probably wouldn’t deteriorate enough to need a bed in that time?.. This illness seems to develop slowly, with about a week of ordinary cold symptoms before it turns nasty. So I would be surprised if an asymptomatic person deteriorated to the point of needing a bed over 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/13 "2020-02-09T17:12:43Z")
[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext) > [@Lancet](#): > > The most common symptoms at onset of illness were fever (40 [98%] of 41 patients), cough (31 [76%]), and myalgia or fatigue (18 [44%]); less common symptoms were sputum production (11 [28%] of 39), headache (three [8%] of 38), haemoptysis (two [5%] of 39), and diarrhoea (one [3%] of 38; table 1). More than half of patients (22 [55%] of 40) developed dyspnoea. The median duration from illness onset to dyspnoea was 8·0 days (IQR 5·0–13·0). The median time from onset of symptoms to first hospital admission was 7·0 days (4·0–8·0), to shortness of breath was 8·0 days (5·0–13·0), to ARDS was 9·0 days (8·0–14·0), to mechanical ventilation was 10·5 days (7·0–14·0), and to ICU admission was 10·5 days (8·0–17·0; figure 2). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/14 "2020-02-09T17:18:39Z")
duplicate ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/15 "2020-02-09T18:18:11Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > [https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext) Excellent info, thanks @puzzlegal! My google-fu wasn’t very good, cool that there is already info about the bug in the scientific lit. It looks to be a slow moving infection so unless the transport is by ship (which I guess some of it was), there’s time to get people quarantined before things get scary. I guess I’ve seen too many scary disease movies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/16 "2020-02-09T23:17:11Z")
I don’t know if this is the same flight or plane, but in [this earlier thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=889643&highlight=cargo) I posted a link to [an article](https://thepointsguy.com/news/a-look-inside-the-747-that-evacuated-americans-from-wuhan/) about a 747 used on evacuation flight. It’s a cargo plane fitted with seats for these flights. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-747-config/847640/17 "2020-02-10T10:43:15Z")
Can potential carriers in the US be compelled to stay quarantined? I read this on the BBC this morning: > [@](#): > > a passenger on the first UK flight from Wuhan, who is currently being held in quarantine on the \*Wirral, “is threatening to abscond”. > > “Currently the regulations are not strong enough to stop him leaving before the 14-day period is up so they brought in these new regulations to try and compel him to stay put,” he said. > > A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are strengthening our regulations so we can keep individuals in supported isolation for their own safety and if public health professionals consider they may be at risk of spreading the virus to other members of the public. \*The Wirral is a country area near Liverpool and they are held in an accommodation block near a hospital.