The Trump administration’s success at reducing illegal crossings over the southern border blocked an even bigger coronavirus “catastrophe” spread from U.S. Border Patrol holding facilities to hundreds of American cities, according to officials.

Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, told Secrets that the border shutdown spelled out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House and enforced by his officers has helped to keep COVID-19 hot spots away from the border and most of his team.