The Department of Homeland Security has announced it will require all flights coming from countries in West Africa, where the Ebola outbreak continues, to go to one of five U.S. airports where enhanced screenings for the disease are being done.
Those airports are John F. Kennedy International in New York, Dulles in Washington, Newark in New Jersey, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, and the closest to Missouri; Chicago’s O’Hare International.
Several Republican members of Missouri’s congressional delegation had called for travel bans or restrictions in response to the outbreak.
Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, after the announcement of the funneling of those flights today, issued a statement commending the Obama Administration for taking steps to keep Ebola from spreading in the U.S., but questioned whether more still needs to be done.
“Due to the large window in which an infected person could be symptom-free, I believe we must suspend the issuance of visas to individuals from those affected countries,” writes Hartzler. “We must do more to stop the spread of the virus in the United States and to protect American lives.
Senator Roy Blunt has also called for travel restrictions to fight Ebola, including during a segment on NBC’s Meet the Press.
