Trump Bans Travel From China Orders 1st Quarantine In 50 Years
President Donald Trump has taken tough steps to protect Americans from the spread of the coronavirus rampaging through China.
In an order issued Friday, federal officials announced that as of 5 p.m. Sunday, Foreign nationals other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have traveled in China in the last 14 days will be denied entry into United States.
American citizens returning the U.S. from areas in China where they may have been exposed to the virus will be quarantined, while others coming from the rest of China will be screened for the virus.
Earlier Friday, officials said Americans who evacuated from Wuhan earlier in the week would be quarantined for up to 14 days at March Air Reserve Base in California the first mandatory quarantine order in the U.S. in 50 years, according to NPR.
As of Saturday, about 250 had died from the virus and about 12,000 infections had been confirmed, according to The New York Times. No deaths have been reported outside of China.
Eight cases of the virus have been confirmed in the United States.
The eighth case was reported Saturday in Massachusetts. According to the Boston Herald, the man infected had been in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus. The other cases have been reported in California, Arizona, Washington state and Illinois.
Delayed Travel Restrictions From China Failed To Contain The Coronavirus
By the time President Trump started implementing U.S. travel restrictions from China on February 2, nearly 40 countries had already enforced travel restrictions. The Marshall Islands was the first country to implement restrictions on all travelers coming from or traveling through China, on January 24. Anyone wishing to enter was required to spend at least fourteen days in a country not affected by the coronavirus prior to arriving in the Marshall Islands. Thirty-eight countries banned travel, barred noncitizens or canceled all flights from China before or on the same date as the United States, and 12 additional countries enforced a travel policy but with less restrictive policies, such as suspending visas.*
Because of Trumps late response, more than 430,000 people came to the United States from China after Chinese officials notified the U.S. administration of the seriousness of the Wuhan outbreaknearly 40,000 of whom arrived after Trumps restrictions went into effect.
Trump Repeats Flawed Claim That Biden Opposed Trumps Coronavirus Travel Restrictions On China
If Your Time is short
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Joe Biden did not directly say that he thought President Donald Trump shouldnt have restricted travel from China to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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Biden did accuse Trump of “xenophobia” in an Iowa campaign speech the same day that the administration announced the travel restrictions Jan. 31 but his campaign said his remarks were not related, and that he made similar comments before the restrictions were imposed.
In the final presidential debate, Democratic candidate Joe Biden repeated his claim that President Donald Trump has mishandled the nations response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Trump shot back in defense, and claimed that Biden himself thought that the administration was wrong in restricting travel from China on Jan. 31, 2020, in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading in the United States.
“When I closed he said I should no’t have closed,” Trump said. “He said this is a terrible thing, you are a xenophobe, I think he called me racist. Now he says I should have closed it earlier.”
“I did not say either of those things,” Biden responded. “I talked about his xenophobia in a different context, not about closing the border to Chinese coming to the United States.”
As debate moderator Kristen Welker interjected to ask another question, Trump continued: “He thought I shouldn’t have closed the borders. That’s obvious.”
This isnt accurate.
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Why Those Seven Countries
The Trump administration pointed the finger at former President Obama. White House officials said the seven countries targeted in the executive order had already been deemed countries of concern for terrorism by the Obama administration. In December 2015 Obama signed into law a measure placing some restrictions on certain travelers from Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria. A couple of months later, Libya, Somalia and Yemen were added.
Trumps order is more broad than Obamas, though, banning all citizens from those seven nations from entering the country for three months. Many were quick to point out that although Trump has brought up 9/11 as part of the justification for keeping people from certain countries out, none of the countries where the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon was on the list.
Bill Gates: Trumps Partial Travel Ban Made Coronavirus Pandemic Worse
Bill Gates.
We created this rush, and we didnt have the ability to test or quarantine those people.
Thats billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft MSFT, +0.48% co-founder Bill Gates explaining in a Fox News Sunday interview how President Trumps partial travel ban on China and later other countries may have actually worsened the coronavirus outbreak.
So seeded the disease here, Gates told Fox host Chris Wallace. You know, the ban probably accelerated that, the way it was executed.
Trump issued a partial travel ban on China on Jan. 31, with initial reports having emerged late in 2019 of the outbreak in Wuhan, in Hubei Province. He followed up with more bans in February and March that covered Europe and other hot spots. The president often points to the bans as evidence of his prompt response.
But thats not how Gates sees it.
March saw this incredible explosion the West Coast coming from China and then the East Coast coming out of Europe and so, even though wed seen China and wed seen Europe, that testing capacity and clear message of how to behave wasnt there, Gates explained.
Here are his comments:
The U.S. currently leads the world in infections and deaths, with almost 6.8 million cases, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins. The death toll by numerous measures has topped 200,000.
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A Timeline Of The Trump Administrations Coronavirus Actions
Travel restrictions, lack of tests, contradicting claims: These are some of the major actions by the US president.
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has faced its greatest challenge in 2020: The coronavirus pandemic and the disease it causes, COVID-19.
Since emerging in China at the end of 2019, the virus has spread all over the world. The US now leads the globe in the pandemics spread, with almost 830,000 cases and 46,000 deaths as of April 21.
The administrations response has been widespread, ranging from downplaying the crisis to enormous bailouts. It has also been the subject of much criticism, with Trump taking to his daily briefings to defend his response, often making contradictory claims.
Here is a timeline of key actions taken by the Trump administration related to its response to the virus within the US:
‘i Would Never Have Had A Kid If I Had Known’
Mina Mahdavi from Campbell, California, has a mother in Iran who has never been able to visit her grandson.
Pregnant with her first child in 2016, Mina Mahdavi applied for a tourist visa so her mother could visit from Iran. She really needed her mother’s support getting ready for the baby.
One month later Donald Trump took office and in his first week, he signed an executive order imposing a travel ban on citizens of five Muslim-majority countries. One of those countries was Iran.
“For the first couple of minutes we were all in denial. We thought: ‘This is not going to happen … I’m legal here, she’s applying for a tourist visa.’ But then the visa process went on and on and on, and my kid was born… it was rough,” she says.
Although the visa application had been submitted just before the ban was announced, it took more than a year to be processed – before it was finally rejected.
Her son is now three-and-a-half and her mother still hasn’t been able to visit.
Raising a new baby without the support of her mother left Ms Mahdavi – who had postpartum depression – feeling alone and desperate.
“I’m happy I have him, my son,” she adds. “But to be honest, I would never have had a kid if I’d known that my mum wouldn’t be here.”
She was able to make one short trip to Iran, but the journey from California was long and her infant spent most of the time crying from jet lag. She thought about the difference it would make for her mother to see him in his own home.
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The Basics: What We Know And Dont Know About The Virus Spreading In China And Beyond
But for politicians, those responses might not feel as tangible an action as enacting a travel ban. During the 2013-2014 Ebola outbreak, there was a flurry of calls for a U.S. ban on travel from the affected countries, including from Donald Trump, then a private citizen.
People want their government to do something when these outbreaks are happening, and adopting a border restriction is a visible policy that people think works, Worsnop said.
Enacting such a ban would go directly against the recommendation of the WHO, which has said countries must inform the organization of any travel restrictions they put in place.
Adopting these restrictions undermines the cooperative approach we need to respond to this kind of outbreak, specifically by undermining the authority of the WHO, which has recommended against these restrictions, Worsnop said.
Worsnop said she is hopeful that the WHO will be able to hold countries accountable for disregarding its guidance, including pressing countries for scientific justification for their travel policies and calling out governments that have gone against its recommendations.
Unfortunately, face domestic and international pressures, and have faced few costs in the past for not following WHO recommendations, she said.
Coronavirus: Us Travel Ban On 26 European Countries Comes Into Force
President Donald Trump’s travel ban on 26 European nations has come into force in the US, as part of a contingency plan to tackle the coronavirus crisis.
The ban applies to non-Americans who have been in the Schengen border-free travel area within 14 days of travelling to the US.
People travelling from the UK and the Republic of Ireland are exempt, as are returning US citizens.
There are nearly 2,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US, and 43 deaths.
Mr Trump also declared a national emergency, freeing up to $50bn in relief funds.
Mr Trump’s administration has faced criticism for its failure to provide Americans with widespread coronavirus testing.
In other developments on Saturday:
- In New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern said anyone entering the country from midnight on Sunday must self-isolate for 14 days people from small South Pacific islands would be exempt
- In Australia, the number of confirmed cases rose to 200, with three deaths
- In China, health authorities said there were 13 deaths and 11 new cases
- South Korea reported more recoveries than new infections – the second day in a row
- Colombia said it would close its border with Venezuela at 05:00 and bar any visitors who had recently been in Europe or Asia
The coronavirus originated in China’s Hubei province late last year.
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Italy on Friday recorded its highest daily death toll – 250 over 24 hours, taking the total to 1,266, with 17,660 infections overall.
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Travel Restrictions From Europe Were Too Little Too Late
Trump waited 40 daysuntil March 11after he announced the China travel ban to implement travel restrictions from Europe. At that point, New York already had 216 cases.
Research now shows that travelers from Europenot Chinawere the primary cause of the COVID-19 spread in the New York region. New York state alone currently has more cases than every other country outside the United States. Researchers found that the coronavirus was already spreading throughout the region by mid-February and that he majority is clearly European.
According to a recently unearthed email thread with public health experts and administration officials, the European travel ban was far too late to have any impact. A former Trump homeland security adviser summed it up in an email: Theres little value to European travel restrictions. Poor use of time & energy. Earlier, yes. We have nearly as much disease here in the US as the countries in Europe. We MUST focus on layered community mitigation measures-Now!
How Are Businesses And Colleges Affected
Theres panic in some US colleges and universities that have a large number of foreign students. Some students and faculty members fear theyll have to decide between careers or families. Some raced back to the United States as the executive order loomed, so they would be able to complete a degree. Now theyre left to wonder when theyll get to see their families again if they remain in the United States.
Theres hardship for those who planned to come to the States as well. Mahmoud Hassan, an 18-year-old Syrian in Damascus, accepted an offer to attend MIT earlier this year, but because of the ban, he said his dreams are basically ruined.
Trumps order sent shock waves through the business world, too, especially the tech industry. Apple CEO Tim Cook denounced the executive order and promised to help employees affected by it, adding that without immigration Apple would not exist. Google warned employees with a visa or green card from one of the banned countries to cancel any travel plans. Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg said the United States needs to keep its citizens safe, but should focus on people who actually pose a threat.
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How Big Is The Backlash
Its global. Hundreds showed up at airports across the country from New York to Atlanta to Dallas to Seattle to protest. Vocal crowds against the order gathered outside the White House.
Foreign leaders slammed the ban. UK Prime Minster Theresa May said we do not agree with this kind of approach. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Trump herself and reminded the President of the United States obligations to refugees under the Geneva Conventions. London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the ban shameful and cruel.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that refugees were welcome in Canada. Even some members of the Presidents own party joined in the melee. Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham said the ban would only help ISIS and other militant groups recruit more terrorists. Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman said Trumps so-called extreme vetting program wasnt properly vetted. Most of the rest of the GOP was silent.
CNNs Fareed Zakaria said the victims of the ban were the roadkill of Trumps posturing. A petition to stop Trumps planned state visit to Britain has nearly 1 million signatures.
