One final viral infusion: Trump’s move to block travel from Europe triggered chaos and a surge of passengers from the outbreak’s center https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/one-final-viral-infusion-trumps-move-to-block-travel-from-europe-triggered-chaos-and-a-surge-of-passengers-from-the-outbreaks-center/2020/05/23/64836a00-962b-11ea-82b4-c8db161ff6e5_story.html

Epidemiologists contend the U.S. outbreak was driven overwhelmingly by viral strains from Europe rather than China. More than 1.8 million travelers entered the US from Europe in February alone as that continent became the center of the pandemic.

Trump has touted his decision in January to restrict travel from China. But it was his administration’s response to the threat from Europe that proved more consequential to the majority of the more than 94,000 people who have died and the 1.6 million now infected in the US.

The lapses surrounding the spread from Europe stand alongside other breakdowns — in developing diagnostic tests, securing protective gear and imposing social distancing guidelines — as reasons the United States became so overwhelmed.

The mayhem was triggered by the same problems that plagued the U.S. response: Early warnings were missed or ignored. Coordination was chaotic or nonexistent. Key agencies fumbled assignments. Trump’s errant statements undermined his administration’s plans & endangered the public.

The lack of urgency was driven by a failure to understand the threat’s true dimensions. There were 3,714 confirmed cases on March 13, when travel restrictions were implemented, & 176 deaths recorded. Those numbers are inaccurate, artificially suppressed by the scarcity of tests.

Trump spent much of the preceding month predicting the virus would quickly recede and downplaying its severity. “It will go away,” he declared on March 10, one day before his address from the Oval Office. “Just stay calm. It will go away.”

Pottinger and officials who shared his concerns faced opposition from powerful administration figures fearing enormous economic fallout. Among those arguing most vehemently against curbing travel from Europe, officials said, were Steven Mnuchin and Larry Kudlow.

Debate on the issue was also derailed by turmoil on the coronavirus task force. Trump put Pence in charge of the panel on Feb. 26 as Italy confronted a surging outbreak. Officials said it took a week or more for Pence to get up to speed on the threat & array of possible responses

Then, on March 11, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. A meeting of task force members and White House officials followed that afternoon. Mnuchin remained against the move, arguing about its potentially damaging effects on the economy.

In his 2d Oval Office address of his presidency, Trump struggled to follow the text on the teleprompter & committed a series of gaffes. “Never has a less prepared set of remarks been delivered from that room,” said a former administration official.

The actual policy included no plan to cut off cargo shipments between the continents, for example, but Trump indicated otherwise. The restrictions “will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo,” he said, “but various other things.”

The new restrictions included “exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings,” he said. But few caught that important caveat after his opening declaration that the United States was “suspending all travel from Europe.”

Trump was caught muttering a drawn out “okayyyyy” as he slumped. Afterward, he groused about his performance, while subordinates issued statements to clarify or correct his misstatements. Within days, he was blaming Kushner, telling aides that he shouldn’t have listened to him.

Even the timing of the speech was ill-considered. It came at the end of a 3-hour window during which dozens of flights depart the US for cities across Europe. As a result, thousands of passengers learned about the new policy while over the Atlantic, scrambling upon arrival.

There was fear and chaos,” she said. Save for the tense days that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, she said, “I have never seen anything like it.”

Even more chaos was in store

Those who arrived before the restrictions kicked in faced crowded planes and extended waits even without the additional layer of medical screenings. But the next wave of travelers, which began arriving March 14, confronted scenes out of a public health nightmare.

Even most basic screening steps backfired. CDC failed to distribute a questionnaire in time to be shared with airlines in advance; passengers had to fill it out upon arrival. Travelers reached around one another for paper and pencils, risking transmission as bottlenecks worsened.

The most disturbing scenes emerged from Chicago. Conditions become so unsafe Gov. Pritzker tweeted, “The crowds & lines at O’Hare are unacceptable & need to be addressed immediately. Since this is the only communication medium you pay attention to, you need to do something NOW.”

“The federal government needs to get its s@ #t together.” Pritzker’s aides struggled to get answers, but within minutes Douglas Hoelscher, director of Intergovernmental Affairs, phoned Pritzker. But instead of vowing to fix problems, he criticized the governor for insulting Trump.

There was a fleeting window of weeks when blocking travel from Europe might have shielded the eastern US. But by mid-February, European strains were in New York, before fanning out to the rest of the country, according to findings.

The virus continued crossing the Atlantic for weeks before the administration acted. In February alone, more than 1.8 million travelers from Europe entered the US, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Those travelers wouldn’t have faced even a temperature check.

Travel restrictions could have bent the curve downward only if deployed alongside massive testing, distribution of protective gear on an enormous scale & clear public messaging about social distancing. “Without those, transmission would have overtaken any benefit of travel ban.”

Plans depend on tracing those exposed, obtaining manifests & contacting anyone who sat within rows of those who test positive. CDC struggled to get timely information. But the protocol was pointless due to chaotic airports, and contacts that would be impossible to trace.

A CDC spokesman said the center has conducted “contact tracing” investigations on nine Europe-to-United States flights since the restrictions began.

NINE FLIGHTS.