Democrat presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden made no mention of continuing existing travel bans from China, Europe, and Brazil to the United States to prevent the spread of the Chinese coronavirus from overseas.
President Trump has implemented travel bans on China, Iran, Europe, and Brazil to stop the outbreak of the coronavirus in the U.S. Experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have said the travel bans are vital to stopping the spread of coronavirus.
Biden, though, during a speech and press conference in Wilmington, Delaware, made no mention of the policy while outlining his plans to combat the coronavirus. Biden did claim he would “listen to the experts” on the issue.
The experts have repeatedly made clear that stopping travel from China, Iran, Europe, and Brazil is an important tool to fighting coronavirus. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield has repeatedly reiterated that travel from Europe is the “real threat” to the U.S. when it comes to containing the coronavirus.
Another five leading medical experts agree that travel bans are necessary to stop the spread inside the U.S. of the coronavirus:
CDC’s Dr. Stephen Redd: “Within weeks of identifying the outbreak … the restriction of travel from China reduced travel by 90%. I think that was a very helpful move to prevent more cases from China coming into the United States.” [Emphasis added]
Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx: “It’s clear that the early work of the president, both with travel restrictions and the ability to quarantine, has bought us the time and space to have this task force be very effective.” [Emphasis added]
Professor of Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center Dr. Marc Siegel: “I think [the President] made a very robust response to travel. I definitely agree with Dr. Fauci that [travel bans] decreased the number of cases that we’re seeing here in the United States right now.” [Emphasis added]
Chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths Dr. Betsy McCaughey: “The President is doing exactly the right thing by attempting to keep this coronavirus from becoming endemic inside the United States.” [Emphasis added]
Medical Director for CityMD Dr. Janette Nesheiwat: “We still need to take precautions … we need to control the incoming cases from around the world, so we know that our President, starting tomorrow, is going to put a temporary ban on travel from Europe, and then we have to focus on containing it in the United States.” [Emphasis added]
Breaking with the experts, Biden in March denounced the travel bans on China and Europe. The former Vice President’s plan, outlined on his campaign website, does not include a single travel ban — not even for Wuhan, China, where the virus originated — and does not mention the terms “Wuhan” or “China” despite their connections to the issue.
A wall will not stop the coronavirus.
Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it.
This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 13, 2020
If implemented, Biden’s plan would mean flights directly from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan could continue as regularly scheduled into the interior of the U.S. and every major American city. Flights directly from Milan, Italy and Sao Paulo, Brazil would also be allowed to freely fly into the U.S. full of foreign passengers.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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