Some 77 travelers destined for America have been prevented from boarding their flights after they were flagged during Ebola screening overseas. Now, it looks like screening is coming to US shores. President Obama yesterday announced "we're going to be working on protocols to do additional, faster screening both at the source and here in the United States." What we know, what it means, and what it doesn't:
- Currently passengers leaving Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone undergo airport screenings. They can't board any major airline from those locations and reach the US: Most have to transfer in Europe. Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan flew from Liberia to Brussels to Dulles to Dallas.
- The Washington Post notes that there was no elaboration on the details of any new screening, but it runs down the possibilities: more temperature taking, and careful reviews of the past itineraries of foreigners coming to the US in hopes of revealing, for example, someone who bought two tickets: Africa to Europe and Europe to US.