Corona Virus: Chaos at US airports due to screening of returnees from Europe
Some US airports are in chaos after the introduction of the Corona virus testing for returnees from Europe.
The returnees queued in long lines, waiting to be tested, before being allowed in.
Authorities have banned entry for travelers from the United Kingdom and Ireland from midnight on Monday.
As a result, the British Foreign Office recommended not to travel to all parts of the United States except for urgent need.
The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States is approximately 2,700, with a death toll of 54.
Correspondents said that there is a state of anxiety and turmoil in the United States amid escalating fears of demands on hospital beds, as well as other concerns about childcare after American schools decided to keep tens of millions of students in their homes.
Other developments
- American Airlines said it had cut its flights by 75 percent until May 6.
- Kevin State, the governor of the US state of Oklahoma, has come under fire for a tweet he posted on his Twitter account including a selfie with his family in a crowded restaurant, a tweet that State later deleted.
- French voters go to the polls to cast their votes in local elections, which the insistence to hold has sparked controversy amid fears of an increased outbreak of the Corona virus.
- Australia has decided to quarantine all travelers who want to enter the country for a period of two weeks, starting from Sunday.
- British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that steps are being taken that include quarantining all those over 70 years of age.
What happens at the airports?
At Ohio airports, in Chicago and DFW, in Dallas, long lines of travelers returning from Europe lined up, waited for hours to undergo a test to detect a Coronavirus infection as part of their anti-virus measures.
And the American administration imposed a ban on non-Americans traveling to the United States from European countries, which are 26 countries that allow travel between them according to the Schengen visa, a ban that will extend to the United Kingdom and Ireland from next Tuesday.
American citizens are allowed to return to the United States provided they undergo the Corona virus test.
Ruth Prokopi, who has lived in Chicago for 20 years, returned from the United States to the United States after a visit to her family.
"I arrived from Heathrow (at Ohio Airport) around 3:30 yesterday morning. There was chaos in the place, and nobody explained to us what was going on," Roth said.
She added: "I was one of the lucky ones, and I didn't have checked-in bags to search for. Because I didn't travel to any other country with a Schengen visa, I didn't have to take a test. Until then I wasn't sure what was going on. But I didn't find that until I got to the top of the class. ".
"They told us that we had to go through an additional test when we were on the plane, but without any details. We didn't get any further information at any point. I waited for two hours until she was able to cross."
JP Pritzker, Illinois governor, said long queues at Ohio Airport were "unacceptable".
And passengers, who were in the chaos of the American airports, posted pictures and videos on the social networking site Twitter while they were waiting for the end of the traffic procedures, which caused congestion and congestion in the airport terminals.
Passengers were asked questions by airport officials about their medical history, as well as their medical examination to detect symptoms.
Paige Hardy, an American student in her final year of college studies returning from London, told the New York Times that a state of discomfort had taken control of the plane she was traveling to the United States due to some confusing ads.
"I had the feeling that this was the scenario of the end of the world," she added.
In New York, reports indicated that customs officers had put up masks while completing procedures for passenger aircraft flying from Paris.
Chad Wolf, Acting US Secretary of the Interior, said his office was coordinating with airports to work to reduce the time spent on corona virus testing.
Public health experts have indicated that waiting for long periods in crowded access halls may cause the virus to spread to more people.
On Friday, Trump announced a nationwide state of emergency in preparation for the allocation of $ 50 billion to combat the spread of the Corona virus.
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