As of February 20, 2020, the 2019 novel coronavirus (now named SARS-CoV-2, causing the disease COVID-19) has caused over 75,000 confirmed cases inside of China and has spread to 25 other countries (World Health Organization, 2020b). (HCoV-19 has been proposed as an alternate name for the virus; Jiang et al., 2020). Until now, local transmission remained limited outside of China, but as of this week, new epidemic hotspots have become apparent on multiple continents (World Health Organization, 2020a; Jankowicz, 2020; Sang-Hun, 2020; Schnirring, 2020a). Many jurisdictions have imposed traveller screening in an effort to prevent importation of COVID-19 cases to unaffected areas. Some high-income countries have escalated control measures beyond screening-based containment policies, and now restrict or quarantine inbound travellers from countries known to be experiencing substantial community transmission. Meanwhile, in many other countries, screening remains the primary barrier to case importation (Guardian reporting team, 2020; Schengen Visa Info, 2020). Even in countries with the resources to enforce quarantine measures, expanded arrival screening may be the first logical response as the source epidemic expands to regions outside China. Furthermore, symptom screening has become a ubiquitous tool in the effort to contain local spread of COVID-19, in settings from affected cities to cruise ships to quarantines. Our analysis is pertinent to all of these contexts.