The Trump administration’s ban on non-U.S. citizens traveling from Brazil took effect early Wednesday, just as the South American country’s number of coronavirus deaths in a single day surpassed the United States’s.
“By adding Brazil to the list of travel-restricted nations based on a careful and thorough analysis of data, we are proactively mitigating another risk factor to our communities,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement. “While this may be disruptive to some travelers, action is needed to protect the public from further spread of the virus.”
Brazil has the second-most coronavirus cases in the world after surpassing Russia over the weekend. Of 209 million Brazilians, 391,000 have tested positive, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The Pan American Health Organization said Tuesday Latin America was reporting more cases on a daily basis than Europe or the United States. More than 2.4 million cases exist in Latin America compared with nearly 1.7 million in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 592 deaths in the U.S. on Tuesday compared with 1,039 deaths in Brazil the same day.
Starting Wednesday, foreigners who have visited Brazil within the past 14 days will not be allowed to board flights to the U.S. The ban does not apply to American citizens or legal permanent residents and their families, who will be able to return to the U.S. However, flights will be redirected through one of 15 airports, where passengers will undergo enhanced screenings at checkpoints run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Passengers will be selected at random for temperature checks and asked about their current medical condition, medical history, and contact information, which will be given to local health authorities for tracking purposes. All travelers returning from Brazil should quarantine at home based on CDC guidelines, DHS said.
President Trump signed a proclamation on May 24 adding Brazil to a list of nearly 30 countries from which travelers are not permitted to the U.S. The White House announced on Jan. 31 a block on non-U.S. citizens from entering the country if they had visited China within 14 days. On Feb. 29, it expanded the ban to include Iran. The Trump administration later added 26 European countries to the ban list.
DHS added George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida to the existing list of 13 U.S. airports used to receive international flights. The other airports are Boston Logan International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Hawaii, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport, Miami International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, San Francisco International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
