Hundreds of people arrived in America from Mumbai and Delhi on Tuesday, the first day of Biden’s ban on travel for non US citizens from India, to escape the world’s worst COVID surge.
Biden’s ban applies to non-US citizens but permanent US residents, their family members and some others – like students – are exempt from it. It is similar to the ban on travel to the US from South African and multiple European countries. There are still flights to get into the US from India but Air India is canceling its New York-Delhi route from May 7.
India is in the midst of the worst COVID surge the world has seen. Official reporting puts the daily death till at around 3,000 but health leaders say it is likely ten times that at more than 30,000.
It is down to a new variant – B.1.617, which has now been split into three distinct variants because it has mutated into similar but genetically different viruses. Early research has suggested the vaccines are effective against B.1.617.
On Tuesday, people were seen arriving at Newark Airport in New Jersey and Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on direct flights from Mumbai and Delhi.
It is unclear if they were American citizens or the family members of American citizens. None wished to share their information as they arrived.
It is also unclear who is checking the status of those now entering the country on the remaining flights. The ban went into effect at 12.01am on Tuesday morning.
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A family waits for their luggage in the Newark baggage claim after flying in on an Air India flight from Delhi or Mumbai. Both direct routes will still operating on Tuesday
Some of those on board the direct flights were wearing full hazmat suits out of an abundance of caution over the new India variant
Emotional families reunite in the arrivals hall at Newark after the flights arrived in the morning
Passengers arrive in on Air India from Delhi and Mumbai this morning at Newark Airport, New Jersey, on Tuesday. President Biden has banned non US citizens flying from India to the US but people who hold permanent residency or their relatives are still allowed to get in and flights are still running
A man arrives at Newark on an Air India flight on Tuesday morning. India is experiencing the worst COVID disaster the world has seen and many are rushing to leave
It is the responsibility of the State Department, Transportation Department (TSA) and Homeland Security (Customs and Border Patrol) to enforce the ban.
Many were seen hugging people who were waiting for them in the arrivals hall on Tuesday.
New York has the largest population of Indian Americans in the countries but there are large Indian communities in Chicago, San Francisco, Baltimore and Texas.
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb had said Biden’s ban on Indian travel is useless because he suspects the variants are already in America.
‘I’m not sure what we’re hoping to accomplish. If the goal is to try to prevent the introduction of that new variant 617 that’s circulating in India, I assure you it’s here already.
‘So we’re not going to be able to prevent its introduction. These variants aren’t just cropping up in one market and then migrating around the world.
‘They’re cropping up simultaneously in every market,’ he said during an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday.
There were emotional reunions at Newark as people arrived on the flights from India, where COVID cases have surpassed 20million
The flights from India are not being stopped by they will be limited by airline. Air India is canceling its flight
Passengers from Air India flight from New Delhi arrive at O’Hare International Airport on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 in Chicago
Passengers from Air India flight from New Delhi arrive at O’Hare International Airport on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 in Chicago
Passengers arrive at O’Hare Airport in Chicago from a flight from Delhi on Tuesday morning
Back in January, President Joe Biden added South Africa to a list of countries the US is restricting travel from after a COVID-19 variant started spreading rapidly there and was detected in various states.
The US, to date, has not banned flights from countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic but has restricted travel for non-citizens from somewhere the virus, or its variants, were spreading.
The ban prohibits foreigners who have been in a restricted country in the 14 days prior from coming to the US. The restrictions do not apply to American citizens returning to the US.
Other countries on the restricted list include the UK, Brazil, Ireland, China and 26 European countries that are part of the border-free Schengen zone.
They include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
A number of countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Dubai, have all canceled flights from India amid the current outbreak there.
A relative mourns next to the body of his loved one who died due to the Covid-19 coronavirus at a cremation ground in Allahabad on May 4, 2021
Volunteers and relatives prepare to cremate the bodies of people who died due to the coronavirus disease at a crematorium ground in Giddenahalli village on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India
Funeral pyres of people who died due to the Covid-19 coronavirus are seen at a cremation ground in New Delhi on May 4, 2021
People watch the cremation of people who died due to the Covid-19 coronavirus at Sahudangi Crematorium, some 15 Km from Siliguri on May 4, 2021
Relatives cremate the body of a person who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a crematorium ground in Giddenahalli village on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, May 2, 2021
A policeman asks people who came to receive a dose of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to leave as they stand outside the gate of a vaccination center
The situation in India is becoming more dire with the country recording the world’s sharpest spike in COVID infections this month that has seen cities run out of hospital beds, oxygen and medicines.
Second only to the US in total infections, India has reported more than 300,000 new cases daily for nine days in a row, hitting another global record of 386,452 on Friday.
Total deaths have surpassed 200,000 and cases are nearing 19 million – nearly 8 million since February alone as virulent new strains have combined with ‘super-spreader’ events such as political rallies and religious festivals.
Medical experts say real numbers may be five to 10 times higher than the official tally.
Scientists are studying what led to an unexpected surge and particularly whether the variant is to blame. The variant has been reported in some 18 countries, raising global concern.
Prominent US disease modeller Chris Murray, from the University of Washington, told Reuters that the sheer magnitude of infections in India in a short period of time suggests an ‘escape variant’ may be overpowering any prior immunity from natural infections in those populations.
‘That makes it most likely that it’s B.1.617,’ he said.
Gravediggers in India are working around the clock to bury victims and hundreds more are being cremated in makeshift pyres in parks and parking lots.
The US started sending supplies worth more than $100 million on Thursday, including 1,000 oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks and 1 million rapid diagnostic tests.
The US also has redirected its own order of AstraZeneca manufacturing supplies to India, to allow it to make more than 20 million doses, the White House said.
