President Donald Trump has reportedly reprimanded senior officials and advisers last week when 14 Americans who tested positive for the coronavirus have be evacuated from a Japanese quarantined cruise ship earlier last week. According to Washington Post, the President was briefed by the official that those infected with Corona would remain in overseas quarantine facilities.
The President became enraged with officials when the infected inmates of Diamond Princess cruise ship were flown back to the United States on two planes. The citizens from the anchored ship were brought by a State Department and Health official before they were place in isolation without the notice of the President Trump, the Post said.
Administration official talking to the Post that Trump after learning about the reversal of the citizens complained that the move may damage his administration’s handling of the pandemic. The WP had previously reported that there had been tensions between the State Department and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the decision to allow asymptomatic citizens in, after being tested positive with COVID-19. A State Dep. Official briefing reporter on Friday said that a plan was already underway once the administration receives tests from Japanese labs.
“I think the folks on the ground did just the right thing, by — out of an abundance of caution — moving those 14 people into an isolation area where they pose no threat to themselves or anyone else, to provide room for a robust inter-agency discussion between not just CDC and state, but really the operational elements of HHS,” said Dr. William Walters, executive director and managing director for operational medicine at the State Department’s Bureau of Medical Services.
“At the end of the day, the State Department had a decision to make, informed by our inter-agency partners, and we went ahead and made that decision,” Walters said. “And the decision, I think, was the right one in bringing those people home.”
The US officials have now confirmed at least 35 cases of the virus in the country, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday.
