Report: Biden Administration Pondering Domestic Travel Restrictions Due to COVID-19 Mutation
“This is a war and we’re at battle with the virus. War is messy and unpredictable, and all options are on the table.”
The Miami Herald and McClatchy DC reported that President Joe Biden’s administration has started looking into domestic travel restrictions thanks to the COVID-19 mutation:
Outbreaks of the new variants — including a highly contagious one first identified in the United Kingdom, as well as others from South Africa and Brazil that scientists worry can evade existing vaccines — have lent urgency to a review of potential travel restrictions within the United States, one federal official said.
“There are active conversations about what could help mitigate spread here, but we have to follow the data and what’s going to work. We did this with South Africa, we did this with Brazil, because we got clear guidance,” one White House official said.
“But we’re having conversations about anything that would help mitigate spread,” the official said, referring to discussions about new travel restrictions that could target the spread of the U.K. mutation in Florida.
This unnamed official also said that the White House does not have an announcement ready to go:
Two federal government officials underscored that no policy announcements are imminent, and that any move to restrict travel or impose new health measures would be taken in partnership with state and local governments.
“No decisions have been made, but we certainly are having conversations across government,” the White House official said, pointing to current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraging Americans to stay home and only travel for essential reasons.
“This is a war and we’re at battle with the virus. War is messy and unpredictable, and all options are on the table,” the White House official said.
I wonder if this will spur more bills from Republicans.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced a bill to bar Biden from implementing a COVID-19 testing rule.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told Axios the administration has an “active conversation” with the CDC about requiring a negative COVID-19 test before flying.
The CDC already decided people needed a negative test for international flights.
Biggs said this would kill the airline industry, which is already hurting:
“It is outrageous that the Biden administration is contemplating new regulations or guidelines to require passengers to undergo COVID-19 testing before domestic air travel,” Biggs said. “This is another unscientific, bureaucratic action designed to control Americans’ lives and increase dependence on government. Further, such a mandate would devastate the airline industry and destroy massive sectors of our recovering economy.”
—
“I fly domestically regularly each month, and I observe the efforts of the airlines to make each passenger safe,” the Arizona representative said. “The Biden administration should listen to the airline executives and heed the science of healthy air travel. This misguided idea should not become implemented policy under any circumstances.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has kept Florida open during the pandemic. People try to tear him down, but Florida has not seen anything like New York or California.
It’s not a shock to me that they’re targeting Florida. You know they’re using the mutation as an excuse to try to ruin the good DeSantis did for his state.
DeSantis’s spokeswoman Meredith Beatrice said he “opposes travel restrictions and does not believe diagnostic tests should be a prerequisite to domestic air travel.”
But would the restrictions work? One public health expert said it could be too late:
Whether travel restrictions will be effective as an intervention is unclear and implementing them now could amount to “closing the barn door once the horse is out,” said Robert Bednarczyk, a public health expert and assistant professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
He noted that the B.1.1.7 variant has already spread to 34 states, even if it is more concentrated in places like Florida and California.
“With only a small fraction of samples tested for specific mutations, this is likely underestimating the amount of spread,” Bednarczyk said. “In addition to what we’ve been asking of the population — masks, distancing, avoiding large gatherings — I think people should consider avoiding travel, especially to tourist destinations where there’s a greater chance of disease spread to individuals who can take it to more places.”
An infectious disease expert disagrees:
But even if it’s too late to halt the spread of the variant, a travel restriction could at least slow its exportation, said Stephen Kissler, an immunology and infectious disease expert with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Kissler said that the arrival of COVID vaccines has given public health officials added incentive to impose travel restrictions, even if they would only slow the spread of the variant, because it gives them a longer window to get people protected from the virus before they are infected.
“Right now we’re in a race with the virus trying to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible, and B.1.1.7 is one of the most serious threats to that,” he said.
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When you go about posting things like this please indicate in the first part of the post if AOC, true surviver, is safe and OK.
We all appreciate your concern, but she is always in terrible peril – this can be assured of, death, taxes, and AOC being in constant peril, even if that pounding on the door is all in her head.
Sandy Smollet. No more, no less.
“‘Emergencies’ have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.” -Friedrich August von Hayek
Yeah put domestic travel restrictions in place while you open the fucking border and let literally millions of people cross it.
That sounds like a winning fucking strategy.
For America’s current leftwing fascist regime acquiring as many new Dem voters — of color — as possible and driving down the wages and job opportunities for as many deplorable privileged white Trump voters as possible takes priority over all else.
Except it isn’t white adults (teenagers are another story) that are getting screwed here, by and large, it’s blacks. I would find it hilarious, were it not so ignorant, to watch black “leaders” claim their situation was caused by “white privilege” while completely ignoring the tens of millions of Mexicans being imported to take jobs they used to have.
When 75 % of US. Citizen STEM graduates are unable to find work in their field due to the importation of cheap (and frankly horrible untrained unskilled) IT workers…then no it’s not just teens being impacted. Biden lowering standards to get more undertrained foreign medical workers in too who will be given hiring priority over US trained docs and nurses….we are ALL going to feel the pain
I had experience of one of these imported MDs from WhoKnoweWho U in May. He thought he was a hammer and I was a nail. (They reeeeeeeely respect women). I will never ever ever go to one again. Only US trained docs for me, thanks.
But the Travel Restrictions will be temporary. Just Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve.
I assume John Kerry will still be allowed unfettered travel. He is so important. Much more important than your deplorable, smelly, insurrectionist, white supremacist racist, domestic terrorist privileged butt.
That’s different because shut your misogynist hole, you racist.
“That sounds like a winning fucking strategy.”
It is a winning strategy for fucking the American people.
I rarely agree with you but in this point you are spot on.
The Biden administration is considering whether to impose domestic travel restrictions, including on Florida, fearful that coronavirus mutations are threatening to reverse hard-fought progress on the pandemic.
It would be easier to locate Jimmy Hoffa than it would be to find that “hard-fought progress”
Domestic travel restrictions = “papieren! SCNELL!”
Defiant, is that you? MWO much? Heard from Kabaak?
The phrase is “Ausweis bitte.” You can add the “schnell” part if afterwards if you like.
Everyone had to hide under their bed – wearing a mask, of course – until Dr Fauci says you can come out!
No, they just want us to all be homeless because it seems the WuFlu isn’t able to kill any of them in Portland as far as I can see. On a plus note, cold weather and an ice storm may do the trick this weekend.
Bite your tongue. Fauci wants us to wear two masks, not just one face diaper.
Or is he lying this time? Hard to tell with Fauci.
Mask or “Biden Ballgag”?
I could easily see needing a test you don’t have it or proof you had the vaccine to get on a mass transportation.
And those mass illegal immigrants are not going to get a line in the news anywhere. 10,000 a day could pour over the border and you won’t hear a whisper about it.
They have become addicted to the authority that crying pandemic has given them. They will not give it up easily.
Yes… why do I suspect these “new variants” are just spare bolts for the crossbow, that the US swamp can pull out and let fly whenever some situation warrants subjecting the public to renewed or additional control?
…”‘Emergencies’ have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.” – Friedrich August von Hayek…
“This is a war and we’re at battle with the virus [known as the American people particularly those who scream ‘This is unconstitutional’].”
They’re trying to take DeSantis out well before any POTUS thoughts enter his head.
Won’t work.
The Harris/Biden Admin will fight, fight, fight this virus to the very last private non-governmental citizen!
Geez oh Lou….never thought I’d say this. Sweet Meteor of Death, may you arrive and quickly. I’m tired.
Whether imposing a domestic restriction regime is good policy in the abstract is debatable. Imposing a set of restrictions after at least 34 States have documented variant Rona strains is beyond stupid. It’s too late at that point to serve it’s purpose; prevent the spread among States via traveling.
As a practical matter just what are we talking about? Travel from or through Commercial Airports, Seaports, Train stations, Bus Stations could all be subjected to some ‘vaccination paperwork’ regime. Now tell me the plan for roadways.
Are we to believe that the d/progressive will support the establishment of interior checkpoints to monitor and validate vaccination paperwork prior to crossing State lines?
Which agency is empowered to do so? Will photos/video be taken as at our interior Border Patrol stations? Will they be cooperating with State or County agencies? Maybe the NG and State LEO?
If all these agencies are present will these vaccine checkpoints only be concerned with vaccine paperwork? Will they be apprehending wanted criminals? Enforcing drunk driving laws? Immigration violators?
None of this seems like the kind of things d/progressive would sign on to support. If they are established will they be able to be rolled back in the future?
Somehow I don’t think that the d/progressive are going to establish not only a precedent for but the physical infrastructure and manning for future ‘DUI’ checkpoints that serve as a multi jurisdictional ‘task force’ to scoop up the ‘usual suspects’.
Maybe I’m wrong but that would be a huge break in behavior for the d/progressive.
“Now tell me the plan for roadways. Are we to believe that the d/progressive will support the establishment of interior checkpoints to monitor and validate vaccination paperwork prior to crossing State lines?”
Funny you should ask. Biden’s new Secretary of Commerce is none other than RI governor Gina Raimondo — she who, at the height of early COVID insanity, actually placed state troopers at the major ingress points to RI to turn back vehicles with NY license plates.
Never underestimate the totalitarianism of the d/progressive.
Henry,
The Sec of Commerce is unlikely to be tasked with this. Lets continue as if she would be. RI is the smallest State in the Union maybe it would be possible there based on it’s small size.
Now show me the plan for a Nationwide set of checkpoints on every roadway.
Also show me the plan for private airfields and private aircraft operating from commercial airfields.
I appreciate and acknowledge your sarcasm. Very nice. That doesn’t show us the plan. Nor address the differences in culture between RI and a State like Alabama or TX.
IMO there will be much higher pushback in other areas of the Nation. Will say Gov DeSantis in FL willingly cooperate with the Fed plan? Doubtful. What then?
The larger long term issue is if the d/progressive set this precedent then what is to stop a future administration from utilizing the checkpoints for DUI, outstanding warrant check, immigration violations, basic insurance, registration and DL?
Although the Agricultural Inspection Stations at the California-Nevada border on the I-15 freeway often do not require full stops and inspections, that is what they are designed for. Although they are only in place for southbound (NV to CA) traffic. They could easily add additional booths for northbound traffic.
There are ways around the Agriculture Stations, but the VAST majority of road traffic goes through this Inspection Station. “Vaccination Certificate, please.”
I wasn’t implying that this would be up to the Secretary of Commerce; I was making a comment on the caliber of patronage leadership Biden is hiring to sit in his cabinet. To put it another way, Raimondo could just have easily been chosen as Secretary of Transportation. You can bet TSA is salivating at the prospect of being staffed up to perform precisely this task.
And if you think people of Raimondo’s caliber are going to think twice about “the differences in culture between RI and a State like Alabama or TX,” you’ll never make a good Democrat.
Henry,
Oh. Ok the TSA. Sure at existing facilities. No worries then.
I have zero fear of the TSA manning a checkpoint on an isolated rural road in an area between Alabama and Florida. Maybe snowbirds from RI will choose to participate. The local population, not so much.
Additionally, what about establishing the checkpoints? If the States refuse to participate? Actively resist by refusing cooperation in any manner?
I have no doubt you are correct that some bcrat at TSA HQ wants more power and authority. Developing, implementing and maintaining the execution of the plan is way different on the ground than in a power point briefing.
That is the point. All the fever dreams of bcrat in DC and all our projections of bad intentions upon them are very, very different from actually implementing a plan. The average bcrat can’t plan ahead for tomorrow’s lunch much less something as large and complex as nationwide checkpoints.
Would they like the power? Sure. Would they be able to pull it off without States buying in? No.
But the border with Mexico will remain wide open.
Big Brother encourages illegal entry to the US through our southern border. No CV19 testing required.
fascinating, all the BS about the wuhan virus, the one thing I never hear/read mentioned is the other vectors for the virus, like mosquitoes, ticks, and bed bugs. so all the lock-downs, and masks will have little if any effect on the transmission of the wuhan virus
To my understanding, this virus is not particularly blood-borne. It lives in respiratory fluids. Hence the apparent insanity of colleges requesting their students to remain masked during sex.
if it is in your body it’s in your blood
Yeah, so is the flu, but mosquito-borne transmission is virtually unheard of in either case.
You know, All I’m gonna comment is that I am starting to feel real sorry for Biden’s horse.
I mentioned that this was coming a couple of weeks ago. Surprise!!!!
This is all right out of the Totalitarian playbook. And, it is ALL based entirely upon LIES. It is foolish to argue that this will do any good, as far as stopping the spread of the Kung Flu is concerned. We already know that COVID-19 is not a particularly dangerous disease. More and more evidence keeps surfacing that the COVID “threat” is being hysterically hyped. The reported death toll is 16x higher than it actually is.
So, why the continued draconian restrictions along with even more draconian measures? It is not to control the virus. It is to control the people. People had better wake up.
What evidence?
I posted this link earlier in another thread. But, as you are such a bug for studies, I’ll do it again,
https://jdfor2020.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/adf864_165a103206974fdbb14ada6bf8af1541.pdf
It’s more about mail in voting and ballot harvesting and such rather than health.
The longer they can keep people scared the more they can keep cheating on elections until they have total control and can do away with elections.
Emperors for life da da or however it’s said.
“As a practical matter just what are we talking about? Travel from or through Commercial Airports, Seaports, Train stations, Bus Stations…”
Nope, we are talking about travel from your bedroom to your bathroom or kitchen. There will not be any restrictions on those modes of transportation you mentioned. How else are they going to take us to the reeducation camps?
B.1.1.7 (UK variant) has not been shown to evade ANY existing vaccine but might cause a slight infection in those with the Pfizer vaccine…and I stress might.
The South African variant might evade the AZ vaccines and the other vaccines that aren’t mRNA supertech. However, there’s still no evidence that it evades effectively enough to cause a severe cause of COVID 19.
So far, Moderna is going strong against all known variants and they are already developing a booster shot for the new variants just in case.
WH is definitely putting its totalitarian cart before the horse.
They haven’t shown that any of the variants can infect someone who has already had the dreaded covid, any variant.
Remember, from the Diamond Princess, which told us everything we need to know about it. abut 30%n (or more) of us seem immune to begin with. Corona type viruses have always been the least common form of respiratory illness in the United States. And that may be because having one infection from one variant apparently renders you immune to many other types because of virus construction. Influenza, on the other hand, minor virus differentiation is all that’s needed to allow the flu to get you again.
From webmd: It’s likely that someday you’ll have a close encounter with one of these types:
Rhinovirus
Coronavirus
RSV and parainfluenza
There are also a lot of viruses that doctors haven’t identified. About 20%-30% of colds in adults are caused by these “unknown” bugs.
Rhinovirus. This bunch is most active in early fall, spring, and summer. They cause 10%-40% of colds. You’ll feel plenty miserable when you catch one, but the good news is they rarely make you seriously sick.
Coronavirus. These tend to do their dirty work in the winter and early spring. The coronavirus is the cause of about 20% of colds. There are more than 30 kinds, but only three or four affect people.
RSV and parainfluenza. These viruses cause 20% of colds. They sometimes lead to severe infections, like pneumonia, in young children.
As summer comes upon us- we need to open up- completely. All respiratory illnesses tend to be less severe in summer. Hmmm… sunshine, vitamins D, increased UV- which creates Vitamin D and kills viruses… Yep, likely the worst action taken was keeping people locked up all last summer. And looks like the addled Biden will repeat the mistake based on SCIENCE, or so we’ll be told as we’re lied to again.
I had the antibody test taken today. The caveat sheet they gave me said there was a good chance I might have a false negative or false positive result, and even a true positive result might be just detecting a more pedestrian flu/cold COVID. It also said that even if I got a true positive result, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t catch COVID all over again.
If I had spent the same $99 on a hooker, at least I could have gotten verifiable results.
Quoting
Disease Mitigation Measures in the Control of Pandemic Influenza
THOMAS V. INGLESBY, JENNIFER B. NUZZO, TARA O’TOOLE, and D. A. HENDERSON
BIOSECURITY AND BIOTERRORISM: BIODEFENSE STRATEGY, PRACTICE, AND SCIENCE Volume 4, Number 4, 2006
On page 373;
“[b] Screening passengers at borders or closing air or rail hubs.[/b] Experience has shown that these actions are not effective and could have serious adverse consequences; thus, they are not recommended.”
Link:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/253a/1b891323cc7538ee4b2aaabf1bab3033ac73.pdf?_ga=2.133696078.1900092566.1613013960-321892554.1613013960
By the way, Trump travel ban was also not effective. It was (and the proposal is) demonstrative. It’s a separate discussion whether the demonstration is worthwhile.
Even if that’s true, and I don’t believe it is, it’s a circular argument. I’m not convinced that this alleged “highly contagious” version of covid-19 actually exists, and even if it does, no evidence is being presented that “highly contagious” is clinically meaningful. It is generally the case that when a virus mutates to become more contagious it becomes less dangerous. Why do we need additional protection for something that presents less risk?
I think the self-declared Einsteins running the Biden* administration realized that if they just reopened the country it would be tantamount to an admission that Trump’s strategy worked and there was nothing left for them to do. And admitting Trump was right would be a political death sentence to the genocidal maniacs that make up the Communist Party.
So what the Biden* administration will do is a completely futile and stupid gesture:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_h4DZeBleLs
Besides – now that elections are moot it’s not like the Communists will ever be held accountable by the proles.
My husband & I have been planning a golf trip to the south in April. The hotels, restaurants and golf courses are desperate for the business. The idea that we will have to take tests to get on a plane is absolutely crazy.
Shameful plug for the golf courses in my hometown. I don’t golf but have been told we are a very popular golfing destination. So here goes,
Visit St. Lucie County Florida. We are between Indian River and Martin Counties (These 3 counties are known as the Treasure Coast) and 50 miles from WPB no shortage of golf courses. We even have PGA here.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Or until we get some serious tarring and feathering or rope, lampposts, assembly.
Whichever happens first.
Just make sure them feathers come from free range pasture raised cruelty free chickens whose natural diet is supplemented with a sustainable organic grain feed free from anti-biotic and GMOs.
I’m rooting for the high-tech approach: superglue and packing peanuts.
(And yes, it BURNS.)
“‘Emergencies’ have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.” – Friedrich August von Hayek
wonder if it be expidated to the US supreme court, remember when RI was going to do some like that to cars with NY plates, I think you will find that it violates the Constitution
I’m sure Roberts still has some penumbral emanations in his bag of tricks for us.
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” -William Pitt the Younger
Restrict travel within America? I’m beginning to believe that the leftists in charge are actually trying to trigger a genuine insurrection, so they can then release the true reign of their terror.
They’d have to win, first. And I think that big barbed wire fence around the heart of DC tells us something about whether they think that’s probable.
Note that then-candidate “Big Guy” Xi-den foolishly and indefensibly criticized President Trump’s common sense ban on flights from China, but, now that he’s installed as President, wants to impose travel restrictions on Americans.
Just finished reading Solzhenytsin expanded version of *The First Circle*. Feel ill at the similarities of Moscow 1950 under Stalin to what is happening now in the Us– the cancel culture, trial by accusation, demands for confessions of wrongdoing, privileges of the few, travel by permission. Where are your papers? Still hoping for a miracle that wipes them all out.
Biden .. is .. PONDERING ?
This senile old fart said he had “a plan”.
Sounds like he had a plan to come up with a plan.
“Biden, are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
“What am I signing tomorrow night, Brain?”
“We are at war…” Kind of like the War on Drugs? The War on Poverty? The War on Crime? Usually these “wars” end up being actually War on the American People with Bill of Rights Freedoms eroded a little more, a whole slew of money finding its way into the pockets of political cronies and a bunch of regular people financially worse off than they were before, or in jail,…and not much else changed.