Official: White House didn't want to tell seniors not to fly

[Mrs. Overall]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — The White House overruled health officials who wanted to recommend that elderly and physically fragile Americans be advised not to fly on commercial airlines because of the new coronavirus, a federal official told The Associated Press.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the plan this week as a way of trying to control the virus, but White House officials ordered the air travel recommendation be removed, said the official who had direct knowledge of the plan. Trump administration officials have since suggested certain people should consider not traveling, but they have stopped short of the stronger guidance sought by the CDC.

The person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity did not have authorization to talk about the matter. The person did not have direct knowledge about why the decision to kill the language was made.

On Friday, the CDC quietly updated its website to tell older adults and people with severe medical conditions such as heart, lung or kidney disease to “stay home as much as possible” and avoid crowds. It urges those people to “take actions to reduce your risk of exposure,” but it doesn’t specifically address flying.

Read more: https://apnews.com/921ad7f1f08d7634bf681ba785faf269?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

[Lochloosa]

1. We are fucked.

[olddad65]

4. Oh, no more fucked than we have been since Russia ...

Committed an act of war against the US, by interfering in our election and installing the treasonous Donald J. Trump as the leader of this once great nation. Our fuckedness is just becoming more noticeable by everyone now. Just wait until they open the ‘quarantine’ camps and fire up the incinerators.

[CaptYossarian]

25. Considering what we've seen for three painful years, it's

probably best that we citizens take care of ourselves rather than rely on these govt. "experts".

Whenever Phil Donahue would go to his audience for questions, he would always say "there's a lot of wisdom out here".

The same cannot be said about Trump & Co.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. The CDC notice I saw yesterday did include a reference to airports and air travel

Although that may have been an editorial extrapolation from the news source regarding the CDC recommendation that folks over 60 avoid crowds and public gatherings.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. Evil fuckers!

[Aussie105]

5. Air ports and planes

all have air conditioning.
But I doubt if they have filters that can filter out viruses.

Result? One virus laden sneeze, and the air circulation in the whole plane or large part of an airport is just ready to get you.
Fancy an 8 hour plane trip? Not me!

Best avoided, at any age.

Need to travel? Stay in your own country, drive your own car. Alone.

[BigmanPigman]

10. CNN did a show about the virus and

a medical expert said that not only are the trays on planes a hazard, but the pocket it the seat that has the magazines is even worse. He basically said to wipe down everything you touch in a plane including the bathroom.

[AlexSFCA]

15. I got email from united describing their new measures

like all planes have hepa filtration and adjusting inflight service to limit person-to-person contamination. This includes handing beverages directly to customers instead of allowing customers to touch a tray and ensuring all flight attendants wear gloves during service.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. "did not have authorization to talk about the matter"

Silenced by Trump's edict to authorize only Pence to speak?

From this article seems they have allowed the disease to spread where they could have taken measures to reduce its spread.

All to keep the economy going. And the economy will stall worse due to their efforts.

[DemInBuckhead]

20. That person's not silenced by Trump's edict.

In a governmental agency, there are strict rules about what you say about what that agency does. It makes sense because you can't have a bunch of people speaking on behalf of our group since it creates a situation where there are multiple "sources of truth." So this person is bound by that.

Best case scenario, there's a single representative from the agency who reports what's true. Instead, you have the CDC being coopted as a propaganda outlet by Trump and thus there are people within the CDC who are pissed about this and are telling reporters what they know. But even if Obama was still president, they still wouldn't be authorized to speak on the issue.

[left-of-center2012]

7. Trump protecting the economy over protecting Americans

[yaesu]

8. cruise ships are also a big no no. nt

[Warpy]

9. I have to wonder about that. Given an emergency, I'd fly

and I'm old. 57 people who flew from China to the US with an infected passenger who was ill and coughing were quarantined for 2 weeks and none developed a case of it. The case for droplet spread seems to have been weakened a bit by that but they're still not 100% sure how it spreads and when people are the most contagious.

Right now the statistics are such that chances of catching it are small to nil, on planes or off.

That is subject to change over the next weeks and months but for now, panic is premature. Just don't be stupid, wash your hands and don't touch your face with your fingers.

(I say flying for an emergency because I'm old and creaky enough not to consider flying for pleasure, no matter what the destination is)

[Shrike47]

11. We flew to Hawaii in January. By the time we landed, I could no longer walk normally or far.

It wasn’t really worth it, to be honest.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Why could you no longer walk normally or far?

Was it corona virus? Of the unpleasantness of being stuck in a small seat for many hours?

There is a difference.

[sdfernando]

13. You should always get up and walk a bit

on long flights. I will walk the aisle a few times every hour just to keep blood circulating in my legs. NEVER just sit there. I will also get an isle seat.

[CountAllVotes]

17. The same thing happen to me the last time I traveled

I was on a group trip and my feet were so swollen up I couldn't put my shoes on much less walk. Never again after that!

Ended up at an ER in Hungary and no, I do not speak nor understand Hungarian.

I vowed to never fly again after that!

[Warpy]

19. Damn, what happened?

I live at altitude so going anywhere at sea level for 2 weeks would probably flatten me when I came home and lived on iron pills for 3 weeks to reacclimate. I'm fine in this thin, dry stuff we call air as long as I don't leave it for long.

[IronLionZion]

14. Does they want their own voters to get sick?

Seniors with money to fly would include a lot of Trump supporters in swing states like Florida, Arizona, Texas

[AlexSFCA]

16. does wearing gloves help?

[Lochloosa]

26. Not really. Sanitize surfaces you might contact and don't touch your face.

The virus can still be transferred from the gloves to you. It can live 24 to 72 hrs depending on the surface. Glass being the worse. Don't share your phone with anyone.

[sarcasmo]

18. Covid19 is the perfect storm. Dolt 45 blocking in the truth and GOP voters

saying coronavirus doesn't exist.

[Jarqui]

21. Even if the CDC position doesn't turn out to be a good one

That is for the doctors and CDC to decide. They have to err on the side of caution for the safety of the public. To override that for political gain is heinous. Maybe a few more people in America today can relate to how Ambassador Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, acting ambassador William Taylor, Alexander Vindman and others felt about the president putting his political aspirations ahead of his country by trying to extort Ukraine to smear Joe Biden.

Trump's actions here are just more of the same.

[C Moon]

22. Like I keep saying, Trump and the GOP will use this to help them win in 2020...

by killing people or keeping them away from the voting booths.
Everything I see coming out of their mouths sounds like they are stupid, but I don't think they're being stupid. I think they are creating a mess on purpose.

[machoneman]

24. No, I think this whole sad episode will kill GOP votes and not a few wingers along the way.

We need to keep our powder dry for now but launch a series of accusatory ads on all media blasting Trump and the GOP's malfeasance here. Heck, with all the confusion, mistatements, outright lies and fast rising deaths, we'll have a lot of ammo to defeat these morons. Even if red staters don't see or believe all the tragic results of Trump's (and the GOP's approval) of major cuts to our health system and resultant firings of lots of researchers, et al, the media blast may make them think of not voting. One can only hope!

[bronxiteforever]

23. Incompetence has morphed into malice.

[tnlurker]

27. I am 59 and almost got on a plane for Europe yesterday

Luckily my company canceled the trip Friday afternoon. It would have made their decision easier if they had that advice from the CDC.

[captain queeg]

28. Trump keeps acting like the TV reality showman he is

It’s all about ratings and in his mind if he can stifle the facts and protect his ratings that’s what he’ll do. He’s too stupid and self centered to think ahead. All his actions are just making him look worse and worse as the disease spreads. It’s not going to hide out for him or be intimidated by him and people that shouldn’t have had to will get sick and some will die. I suppose some of his followers will blindly accept his version of reality. But as the numbers grow I think more and more will get tired of his inaction. The trouble is he is really incapable of stepping back and changing course.