Coronavirus: Americans abroad must return to US 'immediately', Pompeo says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Independent

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Americans abroad who still wish to return to the United States to do so “immediately,” saying commercial and government-chartered flights could soon cease amid the coronavirus outbreak. “We don’t know how long commercial flights will ... operate,” Mr Pompeo said Tuesday, adding it is not a sure thing that flights being chartered by the US government specifically for Americans to return home due to COVID-19 fears will be available in some countries.

Donald Trump’s top diplomat urged any Americans abroad who want to get back to US soil to contact the American embassy in the country where they currently are to begin making plans “immediately” to get a flight back to the States.

Asked if US officials trust new data being shared about coronavirus cases and deaths inside China by that country’s government, Mr Pompeo declined to comment. He said he would leave such assessments to US government experts who have been closely monitoring and evaluating Chinese-provided data for some time.

Meantime, when asked about the situation in Afghanistan, Mr Pompeo said the Trump administration expect Taliban officials to live up to the terms of a recent peace pact. He is basing that assessment on recent meetings with the group’s leaders he had in Doha, Qatar.


Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coronavirus-update-us-travel-flights-home-return-pompeo-trump-a9438516.html

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. "Donald Trump's top diplomat" (ass licker)

[2naSalit]

2. Yes! We don't have enough of a pandemic going on here...

Not enough of us are dying quickly enough for his rapture so let's make sure to spread it some more by bringing people back. Everyone should be staying put at this point.

We're not dropping dead fast enough for dear leader and we keep asking questions! Just in case.

[DENVERPOPS]

3. I see now that they are

trying to let yet another Cruise Ship filled with Corona passengers unload in Florida. It is un-fathomable that cruise companies are still even putting their cruise ships to sea, and that a ton' of unbelievably stupid cruise loving Trumphumpers are loading on the cruise ships like sardines after the history of cruise ships over the last three months. Most hysterical is the fact that the cruise ships can't stop at their normal ports of call for the passengers enjoyment because the ports won't let them dock in their country with covid passengers.

[2naSalit]

7. Well, Florida is

a wise choice for most ship captains since Florida has an abundance of supplies sent from DC as opposed to other ports along the coast.

But I agree, how fucking self centered and ignorant does one (or thousands) have to be to go on a cruise after February?

[DENVERPOPS]

12. Thank you for pointing it out 2S.....

After Florida Republican's Politicians not banning the Spring Break Covid Celebration, what the hell difference when you have a thousand surely infected passengers to drop off. But just like the Beach Party Bingo College Students, they also will fly all over the U.S. on trips back home, loading themselves in a metallic petri dish tube for hours, like a bunch of sardines and spreading their plague to all the passengers on the plane, and infecting the plane for all subsequent passengers flying all over the U.S.

WASF

[Phoenix61]

27. The ship left port March 7th. Things

escalated rapidly since then. It was scheduled to return to Fort Lauderdale. So expecting to be able to dock where you were scheduled to dock doesn’t seem out of line. I’m sure lots of people on that ship have their cars parked at the port.

[DENVERPOPS]

33. Their attitudes!

Same as MardiGras, New Orleans. Same as Florida Beaches for student break. Same as Florida Mega Churches getting stuffed.
Same as cruise passengers and cruise ship owners. Same as the huge uber wealthy convention. Same as large, uber wealthy, elbow rubbing groups at Mar-a-leecho..........

[Traildogbob]

4. Really

Who the hell would want to come here and die under this shit show without insurance and a health care system being gutted for spite? MAGA!

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

13. My thoughts, too, no doubt cheaper to get treated anywhere but U.S.A. ...

... eom.

[yonder]

5. "...leave such assessments to US government experts"

make that acting or assistant US government experts-in-training.

[2naSalit]

8. +1

[C_U_L8R]

6. Pompeo is too late by a month or more

Criminally negligent.

[2naSalit]

9. +1

[Sunlei]

32. yup like 3-4 months to late. If only they used Obamas ebola epidemic plans in time!

This government and the people they put in leadership positions are such failures!!

[sinkingfeeling]

10. If I was somewhere else, I'd stay there if they'd allow me.

[SharonClark]

22. No you wouldn't.

There are many stories about US citizens trying to get home from countries that have stopped air flights and people not being able to get food. Many counties are in lock down. The US government has been no help to these stranded travelers and the travelers have seen citizens of other countries repatriation to their home countries.

I’m a frequent international traveler and when there’s a global pandemic the only place you want to be is home.

[sinkingfeeling]

23. I also travel about 9 months out of a year. And I stand by what I said.

[a la izquierda]

25. It would depend on where but me too

I have a lot of work in Germany. I'd rather be there at the moment, or in England with my partner (even though it's a hot mess over there as well). I was supposed to leave for England on 11 March, but I canceled my trip. I wish I'd gone, at least I could have a little peace with him everyday.

[SharonClark]

31. Lucky you to have work in Germany and a partner in England. Two of my favorite countries.

I would probably prefer to be with a partner in England if I were you.

[SharonClark]

30. I only travel about 3 months out of the year.

I couldn't handle 9 months - too many ties to my community, family, and dog. But I understand why you might not have my desire to be home among loved ones during a crisis.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

29. I'm staying here in CR

Only By a twist of fate....

My husband got torqued in a wave, suffered a groin injury. Turns out it was incarcerated inguinal hernia, with subsequent small bowel obstruction, ischemic bowel, vomited and aspirated. Got septic & has been in ICU for 7 weeks. The Friday before all our Boston hospitals went into lockdown he got a fit to fly by air ambulance. As a nurse I knew that meant I wouldn’t be able to see him if we returned home. I made the decision to stay put. He is still in ICU but started making progress soon after his trach a few weeks ago. He has a long way to go but is clear in mind, just weak physically. I’m not leaving here without him and now he is so immunocompromised I wouldn’t take him back to that orange shartstains shitshow for anything! Living a nightmare within a nightmare. But the darkness may be lifting here in San Jose.

[Phoenix61]

28. I was supposed to be in Singapore.

I’d feel a lot safer there than where I am counting on DeSantis to pull his head out of Twitler’s ass.

[rustysgurl]

11. So based on their timeline ...

right before they issued the Level 4 travel advisory, anyone want to take bets on a "border closure" announcement?

My son has a flight out of Brazil on Saturday -- it was the earliest flight I could get him. Brazil has stopped over 90% of regional airlines -- he couldn't get a flight to get to Sao Paulo faster if he tried. So he's driving from Belo Horizonte to Sao Paulo (which frankly may be more dangerous).

I'm tempted to tell him and his girlfriend to drive to Bahia instead and just hole up with her father, and bag the trip back to the States.

[Talitha]

14. Return home so we can blame you for future spikes in the graph.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. If there is a spike, tRump should be blamed for not getting them home earlier, like Canada.

But I expect that any spike 7 to 15 days from now will be swamped in the rise going on during that time, and will be more like less flattening.

[catsudon]

15. this is a warning, read between the lines

if you come back now, you can under normal means

don't expect USA to send a plane to wherever to 'rescue' you if things get worse there and we close all travels to USA.

[Delmette2.0]

21. This!

[Warpy]

16. Timed to kill State Department careerists?

Yeah, the sack of shit he works for would love that.

[GeorgiaPeanut]

17. How?

Most international airports are closed and there are no flights.

[SharonClark]

24. Exactly!

Some Americans are stranded because the airports are closed. Has the US sent planes anywhere to bring people home?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Canadian govt March 14 told citizens they should return home "while they can"

... since other countries were shutting borders in and out and stopping flights, even closing airspace. Canada has done a few repatriation flights since then, not a large number.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-more-than-a-million-people-came-to-canada-in-a-week-amid-covid-concern/

More than a million Canadians returned in one week after that official recommendation. More than half a million flew in and a bit under half a million drove in.

Multiply that by 9 and it is about what might or might have happened to Americans; as if 9 million Americans came home in one week.

[Raven123]

20. Ok. Quarantine them at the White House for 14 days

[SheltieLover]

26. Why?

Dump want to kill them too? Or to bring more disease here?

Or just cuz Putin said so?