![COVID-19 coronavirus is seen in yellow, emerging from cells (in blue and pink) cultured in the lab. This image is from a scanning electron microscope. [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories via NPR]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e020b6d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x599+0+0/resize/840x628!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2020%2F02%2Fnovel-coronavirus-sars-cov-2_49531042877_o-7cf68b8a7cd48d5a38e9333dcb684704cdb0ee86-s800-c85.jpg)
Public health officials from around the world are keeping a watchful eye on the spread of the coronavirus as more countries are reporting an increase in infections. In Ohio, state and local officials are working on several preventative measures to keep the virus from occurring.
In Ohio, 212 people who recently traveled to China are now practicing self-quarantining measures in order to monitor any possible symptoms of the illness.
Dr. Andrew Thomas, OSU Wexner Medical Center's chief clinical officer, says quarantining has become one of the factors to consider for people looking at traveling to countries with confirmed cases of the infection.
"There is a concern of what happens when I come back if I have to self-quarantine for 14 days, I can't go to work, I can't go to school. Those are really practical considerations," Thomas said.
He adds that, when it comes to traveling people can do a risk-benefit analysis to decide if the trip is worth it.
"There's reasons why people still need to go they just need to understand that between the CDC, the Ohio Department of Health, and the local public health department, they are going to be asked to do something very different when they get back from vacation than they probably have ever had to do before," Thomas said.
So far the state has tested six people for a potential coronavirus and all six results have come back negative.
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