Enclosed in a limited space and packed in rows, this is not a perfect time to take public transportation in novel coronavirus hard-hit regions. Luo Ying, who had to fly from Oahu in Hawaii to California last week, deemed her flight experience "horrible".

Despite being born and raised in Indiana in US, Luo Ying calls herself a Chinese enthusiast and has long immersed herself in Chinese culture through her connections with Chinese friends. China's tough virus containment measures sounded an early alarm for her and convinced her of the importance of self-isolation and face masks.

While taking the flight to San Jose where her parents live, Luo felt a constant sense of insecurity due to people's laissez-faire reaction to virus control.

"I'm about to board my plane, but no one has checked my temperature," she complained. "When you rearrange your stuff (at the security check point), many would use shared tables. We should avoid using these, right?" Worse still, the only hand sanitizer she spotted was empty.

The most concerning issue is lack of "a unified regulation that can be enforced", Luo says. As she roamed around the terminal, she found only a few stores were closed and many staff member were not wearing face mask.

Once the plane landed, to her astonishment, passengers were freely "let go" without any temperature check at the exit, which means there was no record nor screening of the traffic flow between the two states.

"It's horrible. I don't even know if any passengers sitting next to me are sick," she said. "They're not taking this seriously."