A Canadian citizen was the first person to be turned away at a U.S. border over fears of the coronavirus since a new, temporary ban on people who have visited China went into effect on Sunday.
Acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli confirmed on Monday that visitors who have been to China in the 14 days prior to trying to enter the United States will be denied entry.
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“We’re just beginning, today, to see results of implementation,” Cuccinelli, who serves on the President’s coronavirus task force, coronavirus-travel-restrictions/index.html” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>told CNN.
Cuccinelli added that while airlines are the first point of contact with passengers, the new ban will serve as a second set of eyes, so to speak.
“(It’s) more operationally feasible for them,” Cuccinelli said. “We recognize these are burdens on the airlines, as they are on other people as well. But we want to make it work as effectively as we can.”
According to CNN, U.S. citizens and others who are allowed to travel to America from China are being funneled to 11 airports where authorities will conduct extra screening and transfer people for quarantine if needed.
All flights from China will go to those airports, and passengers who have been to China in the past 14 days and weren’t already traveling to one of those airports will be required to rebook their flights.
The “vast majority” of flights coming from China already arrive at those airports, Cuccinelli said.