Passengers angrily waited for hours for a medical checkup at U.S. airports, after Trump unexpectedly banned people from Europe.

Just two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump declared the Covid-19 threat to be just a "Democratic hoax" of the Democratic faction. His administration has even delayed the screening of nCoV for Americans on a large scale.

But when Trump last week suddenly ordered a "European door ban" within 30 days of midnight on March 13, thousands of Americans on the other side of the Atlantic rushed to the plane to return home before the order. prohibition takes effect. But waiting for them in their homeland is for hours in line waiting for procedures and medical checks before coming to the United States.

The US government has begun to introduce an "enhanced immigration monitoring" program for citizens and permanent residents returning from Europe, forcing passengers to have medical reports and symptom checks, such as body measurements. heat.

But things did not seem to be as Trump expected, when the ban and medical surveillance program caused chaos in many US airports on the evening of March 14, when thousands of passengers were tired and angry. Waiting for hours to get through the medical examination door. Dean Obeidallah, former US prosecutor, commented on CNN that this fact shows another Trump defeat in the fight against Covid-19.

Ann Lewis Schmidt, a passenger returning from Iceland, said that when they arrived at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, everyone had to wait in line for passport check, then continue to queue for medical examination.

"It seems they are doing the opposite. If someone had a fever, they should never be allowed to line up with us for four hours like this," Schmidt said, adding that passengers had to stand together. "Without prior medical examination, we now have a very high risk of infection."

At Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, passengers are also forced to wait in long lines, crowded with each other, even some have to wait 7 hours to be checked, while some around them "are coughing and sneezing. a little bit".

Passengers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York said they did not even have hand washing water and had to share a pen. At least one passenger has been taken to hospital with symptoms of nCoV infection, raising concerns that the virus is spreading among people waiting in the airport.

Things could get worse when passenger Kimberley Harris said she saw many people at Dallas airport leaving the queue for medical examinations and switching to standing in line with those who were not subject to inspection. This breaks the strict quarantine measures that US officials are trying to implement.

Crowd crowds are contradictory to the call for safe social distance that medical experts and President Trump himself make.

What many people describe as in horror movies or doomsday scenarios are now happening right in the US. What has caused overcrowding and panic at the US airport? Commentator Obeidallah said that this was the result of Trump's lack of concrete planning decisions.

When the Ebola epidemic broke out in 2014, then US President Barack Obama ordered the same medical examination program with Americans returning from the epidemic area. At that time, Trump had criticized Obama's policy as a "joke", although US passengers in 2014 were not stuck in the airport for as many hours as they do now.

According to Obeidallah, if the Trump administration appropriately plans to impose the ban, the medical check-up process at the airport could go smoothly. But instead, it is a mess that can make many Americans infected with nCoV.

James Fallows, a commentator for The Atlantic, said that when the "enhanced immigration monitoring program" was introduced, officials in the Trump administration only thought this was a way to help Americans reduce the risk of nCoV infection from outside, but don't ask yourself about what happens later.

"What happens when the normal flow of people rushes to the US at the same time, before the airlines stop flying? What happens when the airport is overloaded, resulting in long lines of people? What? What happens if one of them is infected with nCoV? US officials do not seem to have asked these questions, "Fallows wrote.

Many US officials have had to speak out when witnessing the mayhem at the airport. "Crowds and crowds lined up at O'Hare airport are unacceptable and need to be resolved immediately," said Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said on Twitter and called on President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence "to do something right away".

"The government was unprepared after the President issued a ban on entry from Europe," Dick Durbin, a Democratic Democratic senator from Illinois, expressed concern on Twitter.

Trump immediately posted on Twitter, responding to harsh criticism. "We are carrying out proper medical checks at the airports. Sorry for the disruption and delay. We are trying to proceed as quickly as possible but it is important to be cautious." and be careful. We have to do it. Safety is above all else, "he wrote.

Mark Morgan, representative of the US Customs and Border Guard (CBP) also issued a statement acknowledging that waiting at many airports on March 14 is unacceptable. He said CBP "continually makes adjustments as needed" and will continue to do so.

"With the current national emergency, we regret to cause disruptions and increase the time for check-in. CBP is working around the clock to minimize these inconveniences," Morgan said. .

But the question is why the Trump administration does not make the preparations to implement the policy it has launched, while the thousands of citizens and permanent residents from Europe will rush back to the United States. Predictable things.

According to Obeidallah, the Trump administration should have established an efficient and efficient operating system, while ensuring a safe distance between people waiting in line, rather than putting healthy people at risk. infected.

Communicable diseases, such as Covid-19 or Ebola, are the test of leadership of the United States leader. "Trump seems to have not passed this test so far," Obeidallah said.