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UPDATE, 3/14/20: Boston’s Logan Airport has been added to the list of airports where incoming travelers will be screened.
Vermonters are adjusting their travel plans as the Trump administration prepares to roll out new restrictions on travel from Europe.
The new screening procedures for travelers are complicating travel itineraries and raising questions about how they will be enforced along Vermont’s northern border with Canada. Meanwhile, state transit authorities are seeking to minimize the exposure people can face as they move through the state.
The new travel restriction policy, announced by President Donald Trump Wednesday, severely limits travel to the United States by noncitizens coming from the 26 European countries known as the “Schengen Area.” The policy, set to go into effect Friday, will be in place for 30 days, according to Trump.
U.S. citizens and others who are exempted, like green card holders, from the travel ban will still be able to enter the country from Europe, but must go through specific airports where they will be screened for the virus.
Notably for Vermonters, Scott Milne of Milne Travel pointed out, no New England airports were included in the initial announcement.
“Which causes some significant problems,” said the owner of the Barre-based travel agency.
Eleven airports were initially identified as designated for the screening procedures, though Vice President Mike Pence told CNN that travelers would be directed to 13 airports. Boston’s Logan Airport (BOS) was added to the list later in the week.
On Thursday, Milne Travel was trying to figure out how to help clients from the Upper Valley who were in Germany and scheduled to fly into Logan International Airport in Boston. Since that airport wasn’t on the initial list, the clients’ airline would likely have to direct them to either New York City or Washington, D.C., which each have approved airports.
The latest restrictions also cloud the situation for people seeking to come into the country at land ports of entry. Department of Homeland Security officials Thursday did not offer clear answers about how the policy might play out at the U.S.-Canada border — particularly for people flying in through the airport in Montreal, the closest major international hub to northern Vermont.
[Fact-check: Trump’s travel ban]
According to DHS, noncitizens who are traveling from the 26 European countries will be turned away at the border. Federal officials say that citizens and others who are exempt from the restriction, which includes permanent residents, family members and others, will be referred through one of the airports where screening capabilities are set up. Questions about how that would be handled at land ports of entry, such as in Highgate, were not answered.
Before the most recent policy changes, Customs and Border Patrol agents at the border had referred travelers with symptoms of COVID-19 for screening by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under the president’s previous policy, most noncitizens who had been in China or Iran within the previous two weeks could be turned away.
“This is a period of massive uncertainty,” Edward Alden, an expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, said. “Every country, for better or worse, is looking out for itself and so that means that unexpected travel restrictions are entirely possible.”
Canada has not implemented travel restrictions in the same way that the United States has, though it has issued warnings against travel to known hotspots and been vigilant about quarantine (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is currently in quarantine after his wife felt symptomatic following a speaking engagement in the United Kingdom).
For the moment, Alden said, travelers to Canada should expect questions about their health at the border. But, he said, there is wariness.
“It’s not gone unnoticed in Canada and the rest of the world how far behind the U.S. is on testing,” Alden said.
If more testing reveals evidence of a large-scale outbreak in the United States, Alden said Canadian officials may weigh restricting entry from across the southern border — a move that could come with serious economic risks.
The rapid spread of the virus in the United States in recent weeks has chilled travel. This week, major airports across the country were quiet, and plane passengers stretched out across empty rows as many companies and personal travelers opted to cancel their trips.
Within Vermont, transportation hubs and travel-related businesses are adjusting in the face of the pandemic.
The travel restrictions will not have any direct impact on Burlington International Airport, because the hub does not currently have any international flights, Aviation Director Gene Richards said Thursday.
But to try to mitigate the opportunity for the virus to spread, the airport has added an additional nightly disinfectant spray to the usual routine of wiping the airport down three times a day. The number of hand sanitizer dispensers has been doubled to 80, and the airport put up 50 signs about CDC-recommended techniques, like handwashing and coughing protocols.
“When you come to the airport think about the other people who you come in contact with and if you’re not well, please don’t expose others to what you are feeling,” Richards said.
Todd Sears, the Vermont Agency of Transportation emergency management director, said the state has been in communication with transportation hubs and companies about sanitization efforts.
Sears noted that use of transit has been declining. Amtrak, which the state has been engaging with about sanitization efforts, has seen a sharp decline in the number of passengers.
Meanwhile, Vermont travel-related businesses are coping with uncertainty as clients try to adjust their plans in the face of the pandemic.
“We’re spending the vast majority of our frontline people and management’s time helping people figure out if they want to cancel, if they want to postpone,” Milne said.
He guessed that maybe 20% of his agency’s time is being spent on its usual focus: planning travel arrangements.
One of the company’s Vermont clients is supposed to have 50 people flying out of San Francisco soon. But Milne said half of those people are canceling, concerned they won’t be able to return because one of their stops is in Portugal, a country covered by the restrictions.
On Saturday, a group of 100 people that includes some Vermont grocery store owners is set to visit Mexico. But Milne said some of those travelers are being swapped out by their companies for employees who might be less susceptible to the virus — generally younger people without immune-system problems.
Milne said his agency’s airline-related sales are down 60% and that the actual financial strain is worse than that figure shows. That’s because, instead of getting refunds, clients are instead taking credits that they’ll use later.
Boundless Journeys, a Stowe-based tour company, fielded a number of calls from customers in February with questions about what it means for their upcoming trips. The company, which doesn’t have any groups abroad right now, is taking a “wait and see” approach before deciding whether to change arrangements for any upcoming tours.
“The headlines can certainly be alarming and we’re really taking our cues from the CDC and the WHO,” Katya D’Angelo said.
