US to end limit on international arrivals from certain countries to 15 airports

The US federal government said Wednesday it plans to stop limiting international arrivals from certain countries to 15 airports and funneling them through enhanced screening.

Instead, passengers will be advised about risks.

Screening for symptoms doesn’t really help much because so many people do not have symptoms, the CDC said.

“Transmission of the virus may occur from passengers who have no symptoms or who have not yet developed symptoms of infection. Therefore, CDC is shifting its strategy and prioritizing other public health measures to reduce the risk of travel-related disease transmission,” the agency said.

It said resources will instead be dedicated to “more effective mitigation efforts” focused on individuals.

These will include “pre-departure, in-flight, and post-arrival health education for passengers; robust illness response at airports; voluntary collection of contact information from passengers using electronic means,” the CDC said. That should help reduce crowding and lines, it said.

Testing may also be an option, as well as reminding travelers to watch for symptoms and quarantine themselves as possible for 14 days.

Volunteers from a Muslim and a Christian group lower the coffin of a Covid-19 victim at a cemetery in Pune, India, on September 7. Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images

The global death toll from the novel coronavirus surpassed 900,000 on Wednesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

There have been at least 900,239 deaths worldwide. The United States has accounted for at least 190,784 coronavirus-related deaths, the most around the world. 

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases around the world stands at 27,719,952, according to the university.

CNN is tracking worldwide cases and deaths here:

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a House Select Subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis hearing on July 31, 2020 in Washington, DC. Erin Scott/Pool/Getty Images

The decision to pause AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine trial because of a potential adverse event in one volunteer shows the safety monitoring system is working, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.

When there is a serious adverse event, “this is the kind of thing that you’d like to see,” he said.

“Mechanisms are put into place to stop everything, no more enrollment until you can figure out what’s going on and you can alert other people in the sites. Did they see anything either similar to or identical to this, is this a one-off, is this a fluke, or is this something that’s real and that we have to pay attention to?" Fauci added.

Americans should feel reassured, he said. They can “feel comfort that when there is an adverse event, it becomes very transparent and it becomes investigated and the trial is halted until we can clarify that.”

US President Donald Trump listens during an event in the Oval Office of the White House August 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Pool/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump admitted he knew weeks before the first confirmed US coronavirus death that the virus was dangerous, airborne, highly contagious and "more deadly than even your strenuous flus," and that he repeatedly played it down publicly, according to legendary journalist Bob Woodward in his new book "Rage."

In a series of interviews with Woodward, Trump revealed that he had a surprising level of detail about the threat of the virus earlier than previously known. "Pretty amazing," Trump told Woodward, adding that the coronavirus was maybe five times "more deadly" than the flu.

Trump's admissions are in stark contrast to his frequent public comments at the time insisting that the virus was "going to disappear" and "all work out fine."

The book, using Trump's own words, depicts a President who has betrayed the public trust and the most fundamental responsibilities of his office. In "Rage," Trump says the job of a president is "to keep our country safe." But in early February, Trump told Woodward he knew how deadly the virus was, and in March, admitted he kept that knowledge hidden from the public.

If instead of playing down what he knew, Trump had acted decisively in early February with a strict shutdown and a consistent message to wear masks, social distance and wash hands, experts believe that thousands of American lives could have been saved.

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The Trump administration intends to end coronavirus screenings of passengers arriving to the United States from overseas, according to three officials familiar with the plans.

The US began conducting enhanced screenings of passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, where there had been an outbreak of the virus, at select airports in January.

Over the following months, additional airports began the process of checking passengers from high-risk countries. For a brief period, the screenings resulted in long lines and overcrowded conditions at US airports.

The administration now appears set to end those screenings, a move first reported by Yahoo News. US Customs and Border Protection deferred comment to the Department of Homeland Security, which declined to comment.

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