TSA changes some screening procedures

(CNN) – The Transportation Security Administration announced some screening changes in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Passengers should now hang onto their boarding passes, rather than hand them to TSA officers. Instead, officers will look at the boarding passes without touching them, to prevent cross-contamination.

When a bag does not pass x-ray screening, passengers may be responsible for unpacking it and sending it through the machine again, rather than an officer searching through it by hand.

The agency is also encouraging passengers to put small items like a wallet and phone in their carry-on bags before walking through the body scanner rather than placing those items in x-ray bins.

The TSA statement does not mention temperature checks.

An official said last week the agency is working on a plan to screen passengers for fevers, a symptom of coronavirus.