Is the United States Testing ‘Anybody’ Who Enters From Overseas for Coronavirus?

The president’s statement is contradicted by public information put out by the CDC.

By
32

On Thursday, President Donald Trump claimed that anyone who enters the United States is required to be tested for coronavirus. 

“We have them very heavily tested,” said Trump. “If an American is coming back or anybody’s coming back, we’re testing. We have a tremendous testing setup where people coming in have to be tested.”

He continued to say that anyone who does test positive won’t be sent away, but that they will, instead, be quarantined. 

“It’s going to be a pretty strong enforcement of quarantine.”

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
32
By
Comments (32)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    CynthiaW

    It appears that we can accurately say that, "What Trump says is being done," is not at all the same as, "What is actually being done."

    As to explaining that situation, options include, "Trump is lying," and, "Trump has no idea what's really going on," and, "It's not Trump at all. It's a robot."

    None of those options is worse than any of the others, in my opinion.

    Wash your hands a lot. Avoid old people, if possible.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      cheerio

      Oh, forgot to add in my last post that the more reasonable position to approach this is YOYO (You're on Your Own) but on the upside, Chili's has $3.13 Margaritas tonight.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        CynthiaW

        Or you can go to the liquor store and then drink at home.

        Collapse
        1. Jaybrown

          Yes. Social distancing.

          Collapse
          1. Avatar photo
            CynthiaW

            My mother has a tea-towel that says, "All I want to do is stay home and drink wine with my cat."

            Collapse
    2. Avatar photo
      cheerio

      I think that is the case of most of the stuff he says. I don't think he reads any of the security reports and probably has no patience with facts that are not fitting his current version of desired reality. That is my read on him. That also explains why actual communication of facts from federal agency employees are not cutting through the circle of adoring/caretaking suckups. Which is how we get terms like "alternative facts" coming from his people.

      Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Rick Harlan

    Alec, thanks for your thorough work. There's no question what the facts really are by the time you're done with checking them.
    But do you worry that fact-checking this president will be seen as gratuitous, like fact-checking an Onion story?

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Kevin Durant?

      Every assertion that has been made of the President’s extreme incompetence and reckless dishonesty in responding to Coronavirus absolutely depends on thousands of people dying for those claims to not look ridiculous when this is over.

      If this ends up being less than the seasonal flu then ‘Corona Malfeasance’ will take its place alongside ‘Russia Collusion’

      (not referring to this post as it was a pretty evenhanded fact check)

      Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    Jenny

    Just stunning.

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    Madeline

    Tough to say where the breakdown is. Although after the inaccuracies in the president’s speech on Wednesday, and his previous false and misleading statements about the disease, it most likely originates from his carelessness with facts.

    Collapse
  5. Heather Rae

    Is the President’s statement false or do we have incompetent leaders who are not carrying out the required protocol called for by the President? Clearly there is a massive lack of communication and leadership in these chains of command.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      CynthiaW

      The statement is false. That is clear. Whether Donald Trump knew it was false is a separate question.

      Collapse
    2. Avatar photo
      Moshow

      With great Power comes great Responsibility.

      If you want all the power and credit like Trump wants, then you have to take all the responsibility. Trump thought he put himself in a win-win situation by appointing Pence to the Coronavirus task force. If everything works out, Trump is going to claim all the credit by saying he was a “Genius” for appointing Pence. On the other hand, if the virus can’t be kept the check, which is almost certainly the case, then Trump is going to through Pence under the bus and shift all the blame to Pence.
      Too bad for Trump most people will see through this.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Jenny

        My husband and I were speculating last night over whether Pence might get kicked off the ticket because of this.

        Collapse
        1. Jaybrown

          Possibly, but not necessarily over the virus response.

          Collapse
    3. John Cheyney

      I am afraid your question leaves you with two options:

      1. The President's statements are false.
      2. He has given orders that the people he placed in leadership are not only not following, but are actively lying to him about. In addition, he is willfully ignoring all sources of information that tell him his orders are not being carried out.

      Which is worse?

      He can't play the 'new guy' card anymore. The state of the government is HIS responsibility. Maybe having the most important positions in the US government filled with 'Acting' heads and people 'delegated' leadership wasn't the brilliant idea he originally thought.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        C C Writer

        A related point: Some orders are easy to say, complicated to carry out. Arrangements can't be put in place instantly. Heads are scratched, people ask each other "????", run around trying to actually get it done. Not as if they don't want to do whatever's needed.

        Collapse
      2. Heather Rae

        The “new guy” card is never acceptable from a leader in my book. Excuses will not lead to solutions. His leaders clearly are not executing. Wish we could get a bracket starting with him at the top and siphon down to those on the front lines in each of our states. For instance, TSA leaders who are supposed to be setting up checkpoints/quarantines, Directors of labs who should be offering tests orders by our doctors, etc. That way when this all blows over we know who it’s time to replace.

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          Kevin Durant?

          BioReference Laboratories CEO on CNBC 30 min ago:

          “We are waiting for approval from Medicaid on the requested reimbursement rate of $50”

          If he had called Trump and said “Will you approve $50 for the test?” Trump obviously would have said yes.

          But he’s not calling Trump. He’s calling a bureaucracy that is funded exclusively by Congress.

          This lands almost entirely on the CDC which has 11,000 employees but did NOT have a plan for, oddly enough, Disease Control.

          Yes, Washington DC has lots of complex layers. That’s the exact thing you would look to identify IF you actually wanted to create a plan for an epidemic response which IS absolutely their job.

          It’s also not Obama’s fault that the EPA did not implement a more strict oil rig inspection regime.

          “But but but Trump wanted to cut the CDC even though there weren’t cuts.”

          Even if he had successfully cut their 2017 budget, if you cut Apple’s revenue, they don’t magically forget how to build phones and they certainly don’t throw away all of their plans for what to do if there is a fire in Cupertino

          Collapse
          1. Avatar photo
            Jenny

            I do kind of see your point. I think Trump's leadership style hasn't been helpful and he has a lot to be blamed for, but I would have assumed more of a plan already existed before he came into office. Sort of a 'we got this despite whoever is running the show.' He's not off the hook, but maybe we do need to look at other reasons this seems to be going so poorly.

            Stay healthy, Kevin(:

            Collapse
    4. Avatar photo
      Jenny

      The buck stops at the top. Even if it's not his fault directly, he's the guy preaching drain the swamp and sowing doubt in our institutions. He's responsible for breaking the system without having something good to replace it.

      Collapse
      1. Heather Rae

        I am not relinquishing him from his failures, but he isn’t the one on the phones, email, etc sending out directives to TSA, etc. It seems we have a massive lack of quality leadership at all levels within our government institutions. It’s hard to believe the general public are all in on what is supposed to be happening but those in charge at those institutions don’t? The whole experience is mind blowing really.

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          cheerio

          My working theory is that there was a process in place and an important part or step of that process was eliminated. But who in any job title working for the federal government agencies is going to point that out? That is a sure exit with extra vindictiveness (see McCabe, Comey).

          Collapse
        2. Avatar photo
          Jenny

          I agree. The only silver lining that I'm finding with this whole mess is that the virus isn't more a lethal illness like ebola. It is certainly lethal for some people, and it will be tragic for those directly affected; however, I think this is giving us a good wake up call for what we need to fix to be ready for the next pandemic.

          Collapse