I guess some travel restrictions to and from China is better than no travel restrictions but this might be a case of too little too late.
AP:
The United States on Friday declared a public health emergency and took drastic steps to significantly restrict entry into the country because of a new virus that hit China and has spread to other nations.
President Donald Trump has signed an order that will temporarily bar foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China within the last 14 days. The new restrictions, which take effect at 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, were announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who is coordinating the U.S. response.
“It is likely that we will continue to see more cases in the United States in the coming days and weeks, including some limited person-to-person transmissions,” Azar said. “The American public can be assured the full weight of the U.S. government is working to safeguard the health and safety of the American people.”
Americans returning from China will be allowed into the country, but will face screening at select ports of entry and required to undertake 14 days of self-screening to ensure they don’t pose a health risk. Those returning from Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine.
Beginning Sunday, the U.S. will also begin funneling all flights to the U.S. from China to seven major airports where passengers can be screened for illness.
The exception for American citizens doesn’t make any sense unless we can get some sort of confirmation that Asians are most likely to get sick from it. Of course, we do not get this type of information from the government because saying that any racial group might get a virus would be racist and being racist is the worst thing one could ever be in our great democracy. Even people who rape children have a higher social status than racists.
Either way, this should not be complicated. All travel to and from China should be banned until we can sort out what’s going on. That’s what Israel did. They suspended all air travel with China until March. But that’s only because the Israeli government actually represents the best interests of their people.
