State Department underlings made the quick decision to allow them onto the flights, but separated from the other passengers withing bio-containment units (seen in background)
Daily Mail: Trump was 'furious' that 14 Americans infected with coronavirus boarded a plane back to the US from Japan without his permission, which officials admit was a 'big mistake'
* President Trump is furious that infected evacuees were flown back to US from Japan last Saturday
* Decision was made on the fly after infections were confirmed at last minute at the Tokyo airport
* US evacuated 328 passengers from coronavirus cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan last week
* But any confirmed infected or symptomatic cases were supposed to remain in Japan for treatment
* State Department overruled CDC objections and decided to bring the 14 back anyway
* Trump reportedly blasted aides for not telling him, saying he disagreed with the decision
President Donald Trump is reportedly furious after underlings at the State Department decided to fly 14 Diamond Princess passengers who tested positive for coronavirus back to the U.S. without telling him, and against his wishes.
Trump had been told last Saturday that only evacuees who didn't have symptoms or positive test results would be allowed on State Department charter planes back to the US from Japan, according to the Washington Post.
Officials on the ground realized late in the evacuation process, on the airport tarmac in Tokyo, that 14 of the roughly 350 evacuees had tested positive for the virus.
State Department underlings made the quick decision to allow the infected citizens onto the flights, but separated from the other passengers within portable bio-containment units that were already on the planes, in case passengers showed symptoms during the flight.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The person who made the decision to override the President AND the CDC and allow individuals sick with the coronavirus to return to the US is Ian G. Brownlee, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs. How can someone who works in the U.S. State Department make a decision on a dire health issue even though he as no medical qualifications? When I worked as a diplomat and I did something like this, I would have been recalled immediately and fired. Why is this State Department employee still in his job?
Wnu,
ReplyDeleteThere would have been an excellent chance you would have been shot. I don't think this decision had any political overtones, but what did these people do and who did they interact with before they entered the segregated compartments on the plane?
Good grief
ReplyDeleteIan G. Brownlee?
ReplyDeleteSounds British.
Some how being Northern or Western European, non-British like Trump (Drumph) is not enough.
Where did the white privilege go?
"I don't think this decision had any political overtones"
ReplyDeleteAny coincidences in politics?
We shall see in coming days.
Quite right Anon. I don't think there was, but think is all I got.
DeleteDo we want to bring these people back to the US or do we want to have them languish in Japan where their welfare will almost certainly not be looked after. America has been Japan's chump for many, many decades!! If I hadn't been told differently, I'd think Japan won WW2!! There'd be no reason to expect them to be treated well by their Japanese overlord except for the fear and trembling they appear to have for Trump.
ReplyDeleteThe honest answer is it depends on how dangerous COVID-19 really is. When this disease first appeared, I thought the hysteria was overblown. I still do but as more information comes in I'm less than certain.
The CDC has many years of experience dealing with infectious diseases and Trump was duly elected to make decisions like this. As such, if they concluded that it was unsafe to bring these people back to the US, I'd tend to trust their judgment over that of the State Department beurcrat.
Watching what's going on in Korea right now...buckle up boys it's going to be a bumpy ride...
ReplyDelete,,,
ReplyDelete