General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Direct flights from Liberia/Siera Leone/Guinea to USA, by the numbers.... [View all]
Zero. None. No direct flights.
How many have traveled from those countries to the USA in recent months? Thousands.
How many have been stopped by the screenings preflight? Last month 17. All together, 77.
How many cases of ebola diagnosed from those thousands why traveled into the USA? One.
This does not mean be complacent, but calls to ban fights that do not exist? Ok. Let's also ban flights from Mars.
This article is about doing better screening, and touches on the need for more personnel and equuipment to be sent and used to fight ebola where it is and is a decent read, beyond addressing all those (non-existent)flights we need to ban or block.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-will-augment-ebola-screenings-for-airline-passengers-in-us-and-africa/2014/10/06/2e14a1c0-4d7d-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html
In recent months weve had thousands of travelers arriving here from West Africa, he said, and so far only one case of Ebola has been diagnosed in the United States, and thats the patient in Dallas.
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There are no direct flights by U.S. carriers from Sierra Leone, Guinea or Liberia. The vast majority of travelers from Africa to the United States fly through hub cities in Europe. Duncan flew from his native country to Brussels, where he boarded a flight to Washington Dulles International Airport, changed planes and continued on to Dallas.
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Public health officials have warned that a complete travel ban would cause economic harm, hinder the delivery of food and supplies and even limit the ability of doctors, nurses and humanitarian workers to travel into those areas.
Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said Sunday that the agency has increased exit screenings at airports in the Ebola-riddled countries, using a combination of thermometers, questionnaires and visual inspection of travelers. This screening has stopped 77 people from boarding planes, including 17 last month, he said. However, Duncan was able to make his way into the United States simply by filling out a questionnaire saying he had not had contact with anyone infected with Ebola. When Duncan left Liberia, he had no fever and had no symptoms associated with the virus.
