Travelers arriving from Italy and South Korea — two nations where the coronavirus has taken root — are not being screened upon their arrival in the United States.
Officials with the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, confirmed online that travelers from the high-risk coronavirus nations of Italy and South Korea are not screened by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials once they arrive in the U.S.
Instead, travelers from Italy and South Korea are screened before they board flights to the U.S. This is different than those arriving in the U.S. from Iran and China, as they are screened once they have landed on American soil.
“People aren’t being screened when they arrive from Italy/South Korea, because those countries are doing exit screenings,” Atlanta airport officials wrote on Twitter.
As per the CDC, In the US, airports are conducting entry screening for travelers from China and Iran.
People aren’t being screened when they arrive from Italy/South Korea, because those countries are doing exit screenings.
For more info, please visit: https://t.co/2dgrl0KFhr *NA— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) March 8, 2020
Despite only screening two of the four most coronavirus-affected nations, China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea have been given the same State Department and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) travel advisory, a “Level 3” threat that warns Americans against all “non-essential travel” to those regions.
In Italy, more than 16 million residents have been quarantined in an effort to contain the coronavirus as deaths have increased by nearly 60 percent. The quarantine includes residents living in Lombardy, Milan, and Venice. To date, President Trump’s administration has yet to issue a travel ban on Italy.
Likewise, there are close to 7,400 residents infected with coronavirus in South Korea though the Trump administration has not issued a travel ban for the country.
In late January, Trump issued a travel ban on China for residents and individuals who have recently visited the country. A month later, Trump issued a travel ban on Iran as coronavirus cases climbed.
The CDC did not respond to a request for comment at the time of this publication.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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