NYT Study Reveals Trump’s Travel Restrictions Reduced Chinese Arrivals By 95%

Dan Montanaro | April 7, 2020
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A study published by the New York Times Saturday stated that close to 450,000 people had travelled to the United States from China since the disclosure of the novel coronavirus by the Chinese government at the beginning of 2020. However, of the 430,000 travellers, roughly only 40,000 had arrived in the months after President Trump’s decision to impose strict travel restrictions on Chinese flights, a 95% drop in arrivals.

According to the study, its numbers were based on an analysis of a collection of data from both the U.S. and China.

“Since Chinese officials disclosed the outbreak of a mysterious pneumonialike illness to international health officials on New Year's Eve, at least 430,000 people have arrived in the United States on direct flights from China, including nearly 40,000 in the two months after President Trump imposed restrictions on such travel, according to an analysis of data collected in both countries.”

If these numbers are accurate, this means that after the president’s highly criticized travel restrictions went into effect, the number of persons arriving in the U.S. directly from China dropped from 390,000 to an average of 20,000 people per month, which is roughly 95% less. As the study goes on to claim, it may not have been quite enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. completely, but it is still a staggeringly significant percentage.

“But the analysis of the flight and other data by the New York Times shows the travel measures, however effective, may have come too late to “keep China out”, particularly in light of recent statements from health officials that as many as 25 percent of people infected with the virus may never show symptoms.”

Despite the fact that the virus most likely would have spread in the States with or without heavy travel restrictions, based on the numbers presented by the New York Times, the amount of potentially infected people coming into the country could have been exponentially higher, and the subsequent state response measures may not have been even close to doing anything.

If things are as bad as they are right now on account of a virus strain brought in among 430,000 people, it is easy to imagine how bad it could be if more than double that amount had been allowed to enter.

Finally, the study mentions the significant amount of criticism and rebuke that the Trump administration received for its implementation of such strict travel lockdowns.

“Trump administration officials have also said they received significant pushback about imposing the restrictions even when they did. At the time, the World Health Organization was not recommending travel restrictions, Chinese officials rebuffed them, and some scientists questioned whether curtailing travel would do any good. Some Democrats in Congress said they could lead to discrimination.”

The numbers don’t lie, folks. Whatever else the case may be, the travel restrictions put in place at the end of January by the Trump administration severely slowed the influx of international travellers into the country, and it is reasonable to assume that they thereby helped slow the spread of the Coronavirus in the U.S.

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