California health officials struggled to track quarantined U.S. residents returning from China at the start of the coronavirus pandemic due to inaccurate and incomplete passenger information provided by customs officials at U.S. airports, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From Feb. 3 through March 17, the Trump administration ordered that all U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who had visited China within 14 days and were returning home had to fly through one of 11 U.S. airports, including two in California. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspecting returning travelers collected contact, health, and demographic information and then forwarded it to the CDC. The agency then passed that information on to California health officials, who were to follow up with people during their 14-day quarantines.
State health officials in 51 counties faced challenges when they attempted to track down travelers. More than 1,500 of the 11,500 passenger records were inaccurate, which made it impossible for local and state government workers to know whether those who had returned from China were sick or staying at home.
“Despite intensive effort, the traveler screening system did not effectively prevent introduction of COVID-19 into California,” the CDC wrote in its report. “Effectiveness of COVID-19 screening and monitoring in travelers to California was limited by incomplete traveler information received by federal officials and transmitted to states, the number of travelers needing follow-up, and the potential for presymptomatic and asymptomatic transmission.”
Of the more than 11,500 passengers who passed through California, only three were later tracked down by state health officials and confirmed to have the coronavirus. The CDC said health departments were forced to weigh their resources needed for tracking returning travelers, including those whose names and addresses were inaccurate, with the growing number of U.S.-based cases.
A CBP spokesman defended the federal agency’s screening and collection of passengers and said questions should be referred to the CDC and Department of Homeland Security.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection has followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines at all ports of entry since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the spokesman wrote in an email. “CBP officers identify travelers who have recently been in China, Iran, Ireland, the United Kingdom or the Schengen Area or who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 and refer such travelers to the CDC or DHS contract medical personnel who conduct the health screenings and collect traveler contact information.”
However, the CDC said more efficient methods of collecting traveler information, including electronic copies of flight manifests and text messaging tools, could have better allowed California officials to contact people, set up testing, identify cases, and track the spread of cases.
During the Ebola scare, travelers returning to the United States were also tracked by the federal government. Unlike coronavirus victims, who may not show symptoms for days while being contagious, people sick with Ebola had symptoms and were easier to catch at airports.
