Exclusive: White House orders end to COVID-19 airport screenings for international travelers

[demmiblue]

Source: Yahoo News

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Monday will stop conducting enhanced screening of passengers on inbound international flights for COVID-19, Yahoo News has learned.

The screening operations have been held at select airports since January, when the first cases of the disease began to emerge from Wuhan, China. Since March, incoming international flights from select high-risk countries, including much of Europe, China and Iran, among other regions, have been funneled through 15 designated airports in the United States.

As of Monday, however, international flights will no longer be funneled into select airports for screening purposes and all screenings will come to a halt, according to communications and sources. All screenings and rerouting of select international flights will cease at exactly 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 14.

Currently, travelers upon arrival to the United States are sent to health screeners who take their temperatures and conduct a basic health screening with questions about typical COVID-19 symptoms. After the health screening, passengers proceed through passport control and customs.



Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-the-white-house-orders-end-to-covid-19-airport-screenings-for-international-travelers-172713942.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw

[soothsayer]

1. I've never seen confirmation that this ever happened

It was a big lie when he initially talked about it for the returning Americans

[IronLionZion]

25. It's BS. Plenty of journalists have written about their experiences

When Americans travel to other countries, they conduct screening, questioning, contact tracing, and provide guidance for self quarantining. And real humans will call to check up to see if they're following it. Even our friendly neighbor Canada does this for their own citizens driving there from the US.

Absolutely nothing when Americans come back to the US.

[MontanaMama]

2. The WH really wants people to die.

There's no other way to look at it.

[KS Toronado]

21. Agree. Why? Because tRump figured out how to enrich himself off of a HUGE pandemic.

He honestly doesn't care about the lives or livelihoods of average Americans, even Veterans.

[Javaman]

3. this is what psychopaths try to do...

burn everything down so no one can stop them.

[underpants]

5. I thought I must be missing something

Why would they do this?

[Javaman]

31. Because if everything is burned down

And/or people are dead, then no one can oppose them.

It’s the madness of the psychopath.

None of which is rational, just how high end psychopaths see adversity

[Iliyah]

4. The spread of COVID-19 continues . .

It will make it worse...r.

[yaesu]

6. this is part of tRumps "please make it go away" strategy while he politicizes every government dept.

[procon]

7. The pandemic isn't over, so what is Trump up to now?

Beside the obvious likelihood that new arrivals will bring the virus with them and more Americans will die, how is this policy going to make us safer?

[Lonestarblue]

9. He's probably trying to open the economy for international business.

The airlines are getting hammered because there's so little domestic and international travel. The whole tourism industry is losing billions with empty hotel rooms, restaurants half full, and business meetings via Zoom. The supports for companies keeping their employees on their payrolls end in September. US airlines have already announced layoffs if no new stimulus appears for them.

The restrictions on entering the US may have put off some international travelers, but I suspect that few people will want to visit one of the coronavirus hotspots of the world for fun, so this action may not make much difference. Plus, New York has spent a lot of money equipping both Kennedy and LaGuardia with testing facilities. They may be able to keep using them in spite of Trump.

[Lasher]

13. He's trying to make it look like we don't have a raging pandemic

This is the same reason he doesn't want anybody to wear a mask. He doesn't want us to panic. But he doesn't care if we die, and could we please die quietly.

[procon]

15. Coffins travel as freight.

The shipping costs are unlikely to generate enough revenue to save the airlines. No flight attendants are necessary to ship the dead back to their home destinations.

Perhaps the boost in casket sales and burial plots will open up new jobs for carpenters, landscapers and grave diggers. The future Trump has created looks bright.

[llmart]

23. Yep. That's the real reason.

Pandering to the airlines which are losing money hand over fist. Honestly, if it wasn't for the employees that lost their jobs due to the pandemic, I'd say the airlines deserve it since they've been treating customers like cattle for way too long now.

[LittleGirl]

8. OMG, we're doomed

This virus isn’t going to disappear!
JFC

[bucolic_frolic]

10. This aimed at foreign shoppers and the election economy

Big NYC and West Coast retailers should bounce on this news.

More Americans will die in December, but you want money or you want someone else's life? What's it to you?

[aggiesal]

11. If it will stop the spread of Covid-19, ...

You can place a bet that Pendejo45 will not do it.

Sometimes I wonder if this is intentional, stupid or both.

[progressive nobody]

12. WTF!!!!

[TeamPooka]

14. It's not the international travellers that we have to worry about having the virus

they have to worry about catching it here, from Americans to stupid to protect themselves and others.
Rest of the world is open.
We suck

[PaulRevere08]

17. Exactly, who in their right mind would want to come to the US right now?

[TeamPooka]

19. Tourism numbers say no one

[Lasher]

20. Europe has banned American travelers.

So I wonder if Europeans would be allowed to go home if they were to travel here.

[MineralMan]

16. Trump wants to kill off as many people as possible.

That's the only conclusion I can come to with any logic at all.

[karin_sj]

26. Trump and his boss, Putin...

... want to kill off as many people as possible before he gets ousted in November.

[Grokenstein]

28. And Moscow's Mitch wants to help.

Republicans could end this bullshit in a heartbeat.
Remember that if you ever see Turtle Man out in public.

[Lasher]

18. He wants to end one of the most fundamental precautions we need to have in place.

But maybe he wants to use those resources to screen people trying to leave South Dakota. I'll bet that would be more effective.

[yuiyoshida]

22. NO ONE WILL want to COME to the USA now... We're a country deep in a pandemic

who in their right fucking mind would want to come here.. unless they are maybe doctors and medical specialists.

[Mersky]

24. WTAF?

Makes no damn sense.

[patphil]

27. We're averaging over 40K confirmed cases a day.

Only one other country has a higher daily new case count, India.
And, India has 4 times our population.
Based on population, we have about twice as many new cases each day per million citizens as India.
We are still the epicenter of the pandemic.
Why would anyone want to come to this country?

It's all part of Trump's ongoing fantasy that people will believe the pandemic is over and he's the hero that saved so many American lives with his quick and decisive action.

In actuality, it's always been his slow and divisive action that has fanned the flames of the pandemic in America.

[C Moon]

29. He wants more of Putin's helpers to slip in unhindered.

[appalachiablue]

30. Soo, just let it rip even more..Must be listening well

to new radiologist, Herd Immunity man, Dr. Atlas on the Coronavirus task force.

Kill us all, the old fashioned, straight up and neo eugenics way

[progree]

32. And how this affects contact tracing --

One aspect of the screening is that travelers provide contact information, which can be used to perform contact tracing for infections. Without that information, it likely won’t be possible to contact passengers on a flight who may have potentially been exposed to someone infected with COVID-19.

[riversedge]

33. Herd immunity ?? yes, I think that is trumps goal

[Yeehah]

34. Trump must be prosecuted for all crimes in and out of office

and imprisoned.

[BlueWavePsych]

35. Sheer Madeness!