friday, march 13 , 2020. the washington post eZ re A
The coronavirus outbreak
IAN DUNCAN,
LORI ARATANI,
MICHAEL LARIS
AND NICK MIROFFThe European travel restric-
tions set to take effect at mid-
night Friday will not apply to
U.S. citizens, permanent resi-
dents, t heir families and an array
of other travelers, exemptions
that make the measures less
severe than President Trump’s
initial announcement suspend-
ing “all travel” f rom most of the
continent to contain the spread
of the novel coronavirus.
Many of the details of how the
restrictions would be imple-
mented remained unclear
Thursday, with federal agencies
saying only that they were work-
ing on their plans. But U.S.
airlines nonetheless began an-
nouncing reductions in service,
even as they vowed to ensure
Americans could get home.
Under the restrictions, which
blindsided European leaders,
travelers will be routed to 10 to
15 designated U.S. international
airports, likely to include most of
the large commercial hubs that
already receive those flights, ac-
cording to a senior administra-
tion official involved with the
planning. U.S. border officials
and contracted medical person-
nel will screen those passengers
for symptoms, but they will not
be tested for the coronavirus, the
official said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said
only: “A t this time, we are work-
ing quickly with our partners to
operationalize a plan which will
outline where these travelers
will be routed and what the
screening process will be. We
will share more information
when it is available.”
Acting homeland security sec-
retary Chad Wolf said in a state-
ment late Wednesday that the
restrictions on 26 European na-
tions would be similar to those
already in place for foreign trav-
elers who had been to China or
Iran, where coronavirus out-
breaks have been severe. Wolf
said he would issue more-
detailed guidelines in the next
48 hours explaining how the
measures will alter travel during
the next 30 days, as authorities
try to control the spread of the
virus.
Although the restrictions are
similar to those imposed on
China and Iran, their effects —
and those of a Wednesday bulle-
tin from the State Department
urging Americans to reconsider
all international travel — will be
much more widely felt. The
moves are likely to add to the
pain the aviation industry has
been feeling since the beginning
of the outbreak.
Normal passenger traffic from
the European countries dwarfs
that from China: About 12,
passengers each day arrived in
the United States from China in
the first nine months of last year,
according to the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. For
the countries affected by the
European restrictions, the figure
was 66,000.
While Trump’s restrictions on
European travelers have little
precedent in the modern era,
they are not as sweeping as a
suspension of “all travel,” as
Trump announced in his address
to the nation from the Oval
Office on Wednesday night.
“In January and February, the
administration issued similar
travel restrictions on individuals
who had been in China a nd Iran,”
Wolf said. “That action proved to
be effective in slowing the
spread of the virus to the U.S.,
while public health officials pre-
pared.”
The proclamation will ban
tourists and other short-term
visitors, as well as immigrant
visa holders. But it exempts a
broad range of other travelers:
the parents or legal guardians of
U.S. citizens and green-card
holders under age 21, children in
the process of being adopted, the
family members of U.S. service
members and “any alien whose
entry would not pose a signifi-
cant risk of introducing, trans-
mitting, or spreading the virus,
as determined by the Secretary
of Health and Human Services,
through the CDC Director or his
designee,” among others.
The president made little
mention of those exceptions in
his address Wednesday night,
and there were reports early
Thursday o f panicked A mericans
arriving at European airports
fearing they would not be able to
return home.
“To keep new cases from en-
tering our shores, we will be
suspending all travel from Eu-
rope to the United States for the
next 30 days,” Trump said in his
address. “There will be exemp-
tions for Americans who have
undergone appropriate screen-
ings, and these prohibitions will
not only a pply to the tremendousamount of trade and cargo but
various other things as we get
approval. Anything coming from
Europe to the United States is
what we are discussing. These
restrictions will also not apply to
the United Kingdom,” Trump
said.
White House officials later
clarified that commercial goods
will be exempted, as well.
In a conversation with report-
ers Thursday, Trump said he
would consider domestic travel
restrictions, if needed. When
asked whether travel restrictions
in states such a s Washington and
California had been discussed,
the president said they had not
but left open the possibility that
such actions could be taken.
“Is it is a possibility?” he said.
“Yes. If somebody gets a little bit
out of control, if an area gets too
hot. You see what they are doing
in New Rochelle, [N.Y.,] which is
— which is good, frankly. It’s the
right thing.”
A spokeswoman for Washing-
ton Gov. Jay Inslee (D), whose
state has been hit hard by the
virus, said officials have “good
communications with the vice
president and other federal offi-
cials” and have not been told the
government is recommending
travel restrictions to the state.
“It sounds like the president
said it in an offhand way as a
possibility,” communications di-
rector Tara Lee said, adding that
there was no need to discuss
“potential impacts as part of
what might happen, down the
line, possibly.”
“We hope that the steps the
governor is taking will help to
slow the spread,” Lee said.
Britain was exempted from
the Europe restrictions becauseof its long-standing ties to the
United States, according to the
senior administration official,
and because its health-care sys-
tem is perceived to be more
effective.
Officials at airports that have
the highest passenger volumes
from Europe said they were still
working t o understand the presi-
dential order. And Customs and
Border Protection, the agency
that processes arriving passen-
gers, said in a statement only
that it was “aware” of the new
order and working with the De-
partment of Homeland Security
on how to implement it.
Doug Yakel, a spokesman for
San Francisco International Air-
port, said staffers there were in a
“wait-and-see mode.”
But airlines did begin taking
steps to adjust their schedules.
American and United airlines
announced they would cap fares
for travelers seeking to return to
the United States before the ban
took effect. But with many peo-
ple traveling for spring break, it
may prove difficult to book seats.
After travel restrictions were
put into place for travel from
China, many carriers suspended
direct flights.
Meanwhile, European offi-
cials strongly condemned
Trump’s decision to severely re-
strict travel f rom their countries,
saying they were blindsided by
the sudden move that many saw
as politically motivated.
In a short statement — rare in
its directness — the European
Union expressed only exaspera-
tion.
“The Coronavirus is a global
crisis, not limited to any conti-
nent and it requires cooperation
rather than unilateral action,”the statement read, co-signed by
European Commission Presi-
dent Ursula von der Leyen and
European Council President
Charles Michel.
“The European Union disap-
proves of the fact that the U.S.
decision to impose a travel ban
was taken unilaterally and with-
out consultation,” it said.
Across the 26 nations hit by
the ban, there were 21,080 active
cases of coronavirus as of Thurs-
day morning and 952 deaths,
according to a database main-
tained by Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity. Italy was a particular locus
of the pandemic, with more than
half of the active cases — 1 0,
— and the vast majority of
deaths, 827.
Britain had 430 active cases
and eight deaths, while Ireland
had 4 2 active cases and one
death.
Some in Europe wondered if
Britain and Ireland were ex-
empted because they contain
Trump-owned properties.
In any case, the decision ap-
peared to confound even leaders
of the British government and
former U.S. homeland security
officials, who said that scientific
evidence did not support travel
restrictions.
The restrictions were an-
nounced as the aviation industry
was already reeling from the
impact of the ban on travelers
from China.
A report released Thursday by
Airports Council International
— North America, an advocacy
group, projected that U.S. air-
ports will lose an estimated
$3.7 billion in revenue this year
due to drops in flights and
passenger traffic tied t o the c oro-
navirus. It anticipates a 22 per-cent drop in passenger traffic for
the first six months of the year,
which translates to roughly
100 million passenger enplane-
ments.
Given that Europe is a signifi-
cantly larger market than China,
those losses could be further
magnified even if the ban is in
place for only 30 days.
According to the Internation-
al Air Transport Association
(I ATA), there are roughly 550
flights per day between the Unit-
ed States and the Schengen area,
the geographical region covered
by the Europe ban.
Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s
chief executive and director gen-
eral, said that while govern-
ments should take measures
they believe are necessary to
contain the virus, they should be
mindful that those decisions
could have broad economic con-
sequences.
“In normal times, air trans-
port is a catalyst for economic
growth and development,” de
Juniac said in a statement. “Sus-
pending travel on such a broad
scale will create negative conse-
quences across the economy.
Governments must recognize
this and be ready to support.”
IATA said the measures taken
by the U.S. government will only
add to the financial pressures.
According to IATA’s analysis, the
total value of the U.S.-Schengen
market in 2 019 was $20.6 bil-
lion. Those countries likely to be
most affected by the ban are
Germany, France and Italy.
Despite the spread of the vi-
rus, the World Health Organiza-
tion had advised against travel
restrictions to countries where
outbreaks have occurred.
In g uidance issued last month,
the WHO said that if such mea-
sures are taken, they should be in
place only for a brief amount of
time and must “be reconsidered
regularly as the situation
evolves.”
Experts outside the U.S. gov-
ernment have also questioned
the usefulness of such restric-
tions.
But pressed on Capitol Hill on
Thursday o n whether t hey would
have a significant impact on
community spread of the virus
within the United States, Antho-
ny S. Fauci, director of the Na-
tional Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, said “the
answer is a firm yes.”
Fauci said 70 percent of new
infections worldwide are coming
from Europe “seeding other
countries.” He said 30 U.S. states
have recently been affected by
travel-related infections from
the continent.
“So it was pretty compelling
that we needed to turn off the
source from that region,” Fauci
said. China was initially “the
seed” of infections in the United
States, he said, “But the dynam-
ics of the outbreak changed. It
shifted from China to the rest of
the world, to Europe to the rest
of the world.’
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]James mcauley in Paris and michael
Birnbaum in Brussels contributed to
this report.Travel restrictions on Europe include many exceptions
Veronique De Viguerie/agence France-Presse/getty images
A departure hall at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport stands empty Thursday. On Wednesday evening, President Trump imposed a 30-day
ban on most travel from nearly all European countries due to coronavirus concerns — affecting some 6 6,000 trips from Europe per day.BY TRACY JAN
AND REGINE CABATOAmid news of canceled cruises,
plummeting stocks, quarantined
vessels and vacation plans
scrapped at the urging of the
State Department during the
worldwide coronavirus outbreak,
a bartender aboard the MSC Divi-
na worries — not about catching
the virus, but that her nine-
month contract will be cut short
and that she and the largely
Filipino crew will be sent home,
without pay.
The 25-year-old, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity to
protect her job, gives half of her
$1,400-a-month salary to support
her aging parents back in Manila,
where she grew up dreaming of
becoming a doctor.
But she followed in her broth-
er’s footsteps and landed a cov-
eted position with MSC Cruises,
headquartered in Geneva. This is
her third tour. As the 18-deck
behemoth — replete with a casi-
no, spa and bowling alley —
cruises the Bahamas, she won-
ders how much longer she’ll be
serving pina coladas and marti-
nis to guests, whose numbers she
says have shrunk from more than
4,000 to about 3,000 in recent
weeks.
After President Trump’s an-
nouncement of travel restrictions
from most of Europe to the Unit-
ed States, a March 20 trans-Atlan-
tic crossing from the Caribbean to
the Mediterranean that had been
in limbo is now canceled, she said
the crew was told Wednesday
night.
“We don’t have any idea what
will happen,” she said. “I feel
scared because we might stay at
home for like five to six months
without a job and pay. We don’t
have any assurance of when this
virus will stop.”
Alyssa Goldfarb, a spokeswom-
an with MSC Cruises, said the
company — along with the global
tourism sector — is facing “un-
precedented challenges” as coun-
tries impose travel bans and re-
strict ships’ access to ports.
“Some of our ships will not
operate for a while and others
continue to do so for the time
being, with less guests onboard,”
she said. “Unfortunately, this also
means there is a reduced need for
manpower on our ships.”
Crew members will be paid
until they disembark, Goldfarb
said.
“We are scheduling flights for
all crew members — free of
charge — t o return to their homes
while we wait for the situation to
return to normal, and they will
have guaranteed re-employment
when things pick up again.”
On Thursday, Carnival’s Prin-cess Cruises, which has faced
quarantines on two coronavirus-
stricken ships, announced it
would cancel all sailings on its 18
vessels for two months. Viking
Cruises has canceled voyages un-
til May.
“With what happened to Dia-
mond Princess in Japan and
Grand Princess in Oakland, allcruise vessels will be affected,”
said Nelson Ramirez, president of
United Filipino Seafarers. “There
will likely be only a skeleton crew
just to maintain the ship [while
anchored] — so many Filipino
seafarers will be laid off.”
Filipinos make up about a
quarter of the world’s maritime
workers, a large fraction of which
are on cruise ships, according to
United Filipino Seafarers. The
union estimated more than
325,000 Filipinos worked aboard
a ship in 2018.
Ramirez said workers aboard
ships whose contracts end early
should receive some amount ofpaid leave. But those who are
ashore will not.
“It will really have a big im-
pact,” Ramirez said. “Just on the
Diamond Princess, there were
500 Filipino crew members. If
you had 10 ships, that’s already
5,000 people.”
Meanwhile, in a ship travers-
ing the Panama Canal, a 24-year-old line cook aboard Cunard’s
Queen Victoria is already feeling
apprehensive, just four months
into his first tour.
“Word has been going around
that a lot of people have already
canceled their bookings,” s aid the
cook, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity to protect his job.
“Some of my colleagues are wor-
ried they might start sending
people home if the bookings start
to get low and not give contracts
to the workers on vacation.”
He l ives his life below deck, out
of sight of passengers. Along one
wall, pinned to a bulletin board, is
a six-page health advisory aboutthe coronavirus. He said the
cruise line takes health, hygiene
and safety very seriously because
they live and work in a contained
space, with strict rules about
keeping the ship sanitized. “Big-
ger cruise ships than ours ended
up having positive cases of the
virus and ended up being quaran-
tined and leaving a lot of cruise
ship workers unsure of their fu-
ture,” he said.
Cunard did not respond to a
request for comment.
The anxiety among Filipino
cruise workers extends ashore,
rippling through the seafaring
economy to those awaiting the
start of their next contracts, re-
cruiters as well as maritime train-
ing centers.
Roque Fasonilao, who has
worked three years for a Singa-
pore-based cruise line that he
declined to name, was just pro-
moted from waiter to bartender
on his last tour, which ended in
December. Fasonilao, 3 0, was
supposed to head back in Febru-
ary on a new contract but extend-
ed his time off because he was
scared of contracting the virus.
He recently got an assignment
scheduled to start March 23.
“But I’m still afraid,” he said.
“There are so many canceled
cruises, especially here in Asia.”
Ferline Miranda, a 38-year-old
waitress for Cunard’s Queen Eliz-abeth, is also grounded in the
Philippines, awaiting the fate of
her next tour, which is supposed
to start in April. Her ship has
been rerouted from Asian coun-
tries such as Singapore, Japan
and South Korea and is now
limited to cruising around Aus-
tralia.
“Because of all that’s hap-
pened, all schedules are tenta-
tive,” said Miranda, a single
mother who relies on her cruise
salary of nearly $2,000 a month
to care for her two boys. “If I don’t
board, what about their tuition
fee?”
Maritime training centers in
the Philippines — which typically
enroll students in classes such as
crowd management, safety and
security, and first aid before they
head to sea — are also expecting
business to drop.
Bob Dickinson, former CEO of
Carnival Cruise Line and the in-
dustry’s longtime unofficial
spokesman, said cruise lines have
an interest in retaining longtime,
dedicated employees.
“The last thing cruise lines
want is any worker freaking out,”
said Dickinson, speaking from a
cruise aboard the SeaDream in St.
Kitts. “If t he crew isn’t happy,
then the guests aren’t happy. If
the guests aren’t happy, then the
cruise line has a big problem.”
[email protected]Amid cancellations, cruise ship workers fear being sent home without pay
“There will likely be only a skeleton crew just to
maintain the ship [while anchored] — so many
Filipino seafarers will be laid off.”
Nelson Ramirez, president of united Filipino seafarersUPLOADED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws