What to know when traveling by plane as the coronavirus spreads and fears mount

Cities with airports that see a lot of service to China largely make up the list, first issued last week by the Department of Homeland Security. New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Washington, Newark, Dallas, and Detroit all make up the list of cities with airports that can accept flights from China.

Larger, international airports were chosen as they have better facilities to process arriving passengers and quarantine them, and arriving aircraft if needed.

Airline-provided amenities are often reused and can be a means of transmitting disease so some airlines are cutting back on offering them. Huffington Post blogger and flight attendant Sara Keagle told the online publication that "freshly washed blankets are only supplied to the first flights of the day."

US airlines have not announced a scale back in these amenities. Airlines such as Cathay Pacific, however, have already announced that these items will not be stocked on some of its flights and in-flight meals will also be limited.

For those already with some sort of illness, wearing a surgical mask might help prevent the spread of germs. But for those who are trying to remain uninfected, masks offer no proven benefits.

With new restrictions on foreigners who had been to China recently entering the US, however, some Chinese airlines have been limiting their flights to the US.

American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines have all stopped flying between the US and China, though flights to Hong Kong largely remain.

Airlines are working with agencies such as the CDC to protect aircraft, passengers, and flight crews. US and European flyers are also less likely to come into contact with a plane that has visited China recently as more and more airlines are dialing back or temporarily canceling their services to the region.

Travelers flying on an aircraft that only has one aisle and are outside of Asia can rest easy as that aircraft likely hasn't been to China recently due to the limited range of such aircraft.

For those that want to know anyway, however, flight-tracking websites such as FlightAware and FlightRadar24 will tell you where your aircraft has been in the last week if you put in the flight number or tail number.

Kalitta Air operated the first evacuation flight sent to Wuhan for American diplomats, not a passenger airline. The Ypsilanti, Michigan-based airline solely flies cargo and ferries passengers on a charter-only basis, as seen with the airlift from Wuhan.

Future evacuation flights will likely be operated by the same aircraft as they are readily available for charter. Normal passengers have no chance of flying on the aircraft in their daily travels.