The US should ban flights to New York from nations with Ebola outbreaks to help stem the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, Republican gubernatorial Rob Astorino said Tuesday.
Astorino said the Obama administration should order the Federal Aviation Administration to bar international fights from stricken West African countries — including Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone — to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark.
“Experts tell us that Ebola must be contained in West Africa, yet flights continue to leave that region daily bound for the United States — bound for New York region airports,” Astorino said.
“It makes no sense: A victim clings to life in Dallas today after boarding a flight from West Africa. He fibbed on a paper form, and that was enough to get him on a flight here.”
Astorino said screening protocols conducted by local governments in affected West African nations are faulty and inadequate.
“We are being told by health experts that there will almost certainly be other Ebola victims arriving, yet air travel from countries in West Africa to New York continues with inadequate safeguards in place. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s madness,” the Westchester County executive said.
Astorino said he’s not convinced that stricter airport health screenings are fool-proof.
“I therefore call on the FAA today to halt air travel to New York area airports until proper protocols are in place — protocols that can guarantee the safety of New Yorkers and other Americans,” he said.
He admitted a travel ban to New York airports is not a perfect solution because visitors can travel here from Canada or other nations.
“But New York and the federal government have an obligation to do what they can — to do what’s in their power — to mitigate against harm. God help us if Ebola comes to New York because we didn’t want to offend,” he said.“If we err here, it must be on the side of caution.”