https://apnews.com/0dc271ad7f7917374a5a0cfb49273783
TRUMP: “Everybody
was against it. Almost everybody, I would say, was just absolutely
against it. ... I made a decision to close off to China that was weeks
early. ... And I must say, doctors — nobody wanted to make that decision
at the time.” — Fox News virtual town hall Tuesday.
TRUMP: “I’ll tell you how prepared I was, I called for a ban.” — news briefing on March 19.
THE
FACTS: His decision was far from solo nor was it made over opposition
from health experts, as the White House coronavirus task force makes
clear. His decision followed a consensus by his public health advisers
that the restrictions should take place.
Health
and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who was coordinator of the task
force at the time and announced the travel restrictions, said Trump
made the decision in late January after accepting the “uniform
recommendation of the career public health officials here at HHS.”
While
the World Health Organization did advise against the overuse of travel
restrictions, Azar told reporters in February that his department’s
career health officials had made a “considered recommendation, which I
and the president adopted” in a bid to slow spread of the virus.
Most major airlines had already suspended flights
to China prior to the announcement on Jan. 31, following the lead of
several major international carriers that had stopped due to the
coronavirus outbreak. Delta, American and United cited a sharp drop in
demand for the flights, and an earlier State Department advisory told
Americans not to travel to China because of the outbreak.
___
TRUMP: “And if we didn’t do that, thousands and thousands of people would have died.” — news briefing Wednesday.
THE
FACTS: The impact hasn’t been quantified. While Dr. Anthony Fauci of
the National Institutes of Health has praised the travel restrictions on
China for slowing the virus, it’s not known how big an impact they had
or if “thousands and thousands” of lives were saved.
Trump’s
order did not fully “close” the U.S. off to China, as he asserts. It
temporarily barred entry by foreign nationals who had traveled in China
within the previous 14 days, with exceptions for the immediate family of
U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Americans returning from China
were allowed back after enhanced screening at select ports of entry and
for 14 days afterward. But U.S. scientists say screenings can miss
people who don’t yet show symptoms of COVID-19; while symptoms often
appear within five or six days of exposure, the incubation period is 14
days.
