Logan International Airport welcomed some of its last passengers from China for the foreseeable future Sunday, as new restrictions went into place to mitigate the spread of coronavirus a day after Boston’s first case of the respiratory illness was announced.
On Sunday, the US Department of Homeland Security instituted new restrictions for flights into the United States departing after 5 p.m. EST that day. Afterward, US citizens who have been to China within two weeks of their arrival on American soil will be redirected to one of 11 airports with enhanced public health resources — and Logan isn’t on that list.
The airports where passengers will be redirected — free of charge — are in New York, Newark, Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Honolulu.
Also, US citizens who have visited China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the virus, within two weeks of their arrival in the United States will be quarantined for up to two weeks for screening and medical care, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Federal officials have also, beginning Sunday evening, banned entry to the US for most foreign nationals who had visited China within the previous two weeks.
Separately, the US State Department issued a travel advisory Sunday that advises Americans not to visit China, noting that most airlines “have reduced or suspended routes to and from China.”
There are roughly 14,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in 23 countries so far, and more than 300 of those infected have died. On Sunday, the first death outside China was confirmed in the Philippines.
At Logan, Hainan Airlines flights from Shanghai and Beijing landed within a half-hour of each other early Sunday afternoon, and a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Hong Kong was scheduled to land around 9 p.m.
Hundreds of passengers from the Hainan flights wore masks as they exited US Customs and Border Protection in Terminal E. Many looked relieved, having just finished 12- or 13-hour journeys. Some expressed concern that a case of coronavirus had been confirmed in Boston just a day before.
A man who asked to be identified by only his last name, Li, wore a protective mask and rubber gloves as he walked through the terminal after dropping his family at the gate for their return to China.
Li, who has lived in Boston for six months, said he was worried for his family members, who arrived in the United States for a visit before the outbreak, but felt optimistic that the spread of the virus would slow down.
“I think the government is taking control,” he said. “We’re hoping there are no new cases.”
Others said they were less concerned about getting sick than about losing opportunities to see loved ones.
Boston College student Lewis Xie, 26, stood by the arrivals gate around 12:30 p.m., waiting for his girlfriend’s flight from Shanghai. The couple had originally planned for a Valentine’s Day rendezvous, but travel restrictions caused her to take an earlier flight.
“The airlines all shut down,” Xie said.
Wei Han and Sandra Li, who arrived from Shanghai, said they were lucky to have booked their flights back in December. Some passengers had paid $6,000 to board the flight, about 10 times the price Han and Li paid to return home to Boston.
Neither was concerned about catching the virus in Boston, despite the announcement of the city’s first case.
“Massachusetts has a really strong medical system,” Han said.
Li agreed. “As long as he’s in isolation, it will be fine,” she said of the UMass Boston student whose diagnosis was announced Saturday.
Han said he and Li had heard that many of those who died from the virus were elderly.
“Our country is taking control of the virus,” Li said. “We tell [family and friends in China] to stay home and keep personal health.”
Ivy, a 20-year-old student from Wellesley who wore a surgical mask on her flight from Shanghai, said she thought people were excessively concerned about the virus. She bought the mask during a stop in Japan, she said, because they were sold out at many places in China. “I’m wearing the mask to make other people feel safe around me,” she said.
Many passengers, including Ivy, said they had been checked several times for fever before boarding the plan and had to complete questionnaires about their health.
A Boston University student, who asked not to be identified, stood near his baggage after coming off the final flight from Beijing. He didn’t know anyone who had caught the virus, he said, but he wore a mask. There have been reported cases of asymptomatic transmission.
“I think it should be fine,” he said. “I’m wearing the mask because I don’t know if I have [the virus] myself . . . just in case.”
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeremycfox.