9-year-old Bellevue boy returns home after being stuck in China amid coronavirus outbreak

SEA-TAC – A 9-year-old boy from Bellevue is back home after spending the past two weeks in China.

The family planned this special trip to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family in China, including the boy’s grandmother. They had no idea they’d be traveling right in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak.

His original flight back home was cancelled last minute because of the new disease. The airline offered a refund, or the next available flight two months later in April.

On Sunday night, the family wasn’t sure how they were going to get Daniel back home, but they were determined to do it sooner than later, and they did.

Daniel flew back home with his mom through a connection in Taipei, with the flight at Sea-Tac International Airport landing Monday evening.

The boy hopped off the escalators from international arrivals with a smile underneath his face mask as he greeted his dad.

Daniel and his mom went through a health screening. Sea-Tac is now one of 11 U.S. airports where people with a recent travel history in China have to be checked for symptoms and answer questions.

The pair were traveling just outside Shanghai, which is hundreds of miles away from Wuhan City in the Hubei Province.

Daniel and his mom will need to self-quarantine for 14 days and check their temperature twice a day at home.

The boy will be out of school for just a couple weeks longer, out of an abundance of caution to make sure he doesn’t develop symptoms.

As of Monday night, the number of confirmed cases is now more than 20,000, and the number of deaths has grown to more than 450 people.