March 19, 2020

The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo Secretary of State Department of State 2201 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20520

The Honorable Mark Morgan Acting Commissioner Customs and Border Protection 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20004

The Honorable Robert Redfield Director Centers for Disease Control and Prevent 395 E Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024

Dear Secretary Pompeo, Acting Commissioner Morgan, and Director Redfield:

In light of recent abrupt and dramatic restrictions on travel and enhanced screening procedures being implemented amid the ongoing spread of coronavirus, the Subcommittee seeks information about procedures used to screen travelers entering the United States at airports and efforts by other agencies to ensure effective passenger screening in other countries impacted by coronavirus.

On March 11, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending entry of large classes of individuals into the United States from the comprising much of , and on March 14, 2020, he extended those restrictions to cover Ireland and the United Kingdom.1 On March 13, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a

1 The White House, Proclamation—Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus (Mar. 11, 2020) (online at www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-certain- additional-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-2019-novel-coronavirus/); The White House, Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Non-Immigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus (Mar. 14, 2020) (online at www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation- suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-certain-additional-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-coronavirus-2/). The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo The Honorable Mark Morgan The Honorable Robert Redfield

supplemental Notice of Arrivals Restriction requiring U.S. passengers that have been to European countries, China, and Iran to travel through select airports where the U.S. government has implemented enhanced screening procedures.2 And on March 11, 2020, the Department of State issued a Global 3 Health Advisory that “advises U.S. citizens to reconsider travel abroad due to the global impact of COVID-19.”3

In addition, the U.S. Embassies in Rome and South Korea published health alerts on their websites stating that, as of 12:00 a.m. on March 3, 2020, “all passengers on U.S.-bound flights” would be temperature screened and not allowed to board if their temperature exceeded 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit in Italy or 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit in South Korea.4

Unfortunately, we have obtained reports of lapses in screening over the course of the coronavirus outbreak. The Committee has received letters from five U.S. citizens raising serious concerns about these policies and reporting that they returned from Italy or South Korea after these notices, but were not subject to any form of screening questions or procedures in either their international airports of departure or their U.S. airports of arrival. I am enclosing those letters for your review.

When enhanced screenings subsequently went into effect, significant new problems arose. Travelers, including those returning from countries with coronavirus outbreaks, were jammed closely together for hours in long lines. These lines failed to follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on social distancing and created a significant risk of spreading disease. Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf conceded that these circumstances were “unacceptable.”5

We request that the State Department, CDC, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provide a briefing to our staffs on the screening of incoming international travelers, including each of the following topics:

1. Policies, procedures, and trainings relating to entry screening for coronavirus, such as the use of thermal scanners and written or oral questions;

2 Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security Outlines New Process for Americans Returning from Certain European Countries, China, and Iran (Mar. 13, 2020) (online at www.dhs.gov/news/2020/03/13/department-homeland-security-outlines-new-process-americans-returning-certain). 3 Department of State, Global Level 3 Health Advisory—Reconsider Travel (Mar. 11, 2020) (online at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/travel-advisory-alert-global-level-3-health-advisory- issue.html). 4 U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Italy, Health Alert: U.S. Embassy Rome, Italy, March 4, 2020 (online at https://it.usembassy.gov/health-alert-u-s-embassy-rome-italy-march-4-2020/); U.S. Embassy and Consulate in the Republic of Korea, Health Alert: U.S. Embassy Seoul, South Korea (Mar. 4, 2020) (online at https://kr.usembassy.gov/health-alert-u-s-embassy-seoul-south-korea-march-4-2020/). 5 Abrupt New Coronavirus Checks Cause Agonizing Delays at U.S. Airports, Washington Post (Mar. 15, 2020) (online at www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2020/03/14/europe-travel-ban-airport-delays/). The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo The Honorable Mark Morgan The Honorable Robert Redfield

2. The roles of CBP, CDC, the State Department, and other agencies in implementing policies and procedures regarding entry screening for coronavirus;

3. Whether and how CBP agents and officers have been instructed to inspect documents or ask screening questions to individuals returning to U.S. ports of entry since January 6, 2020, to determine whether their travel included Italy, South Korea, Japan, China, Iran, the Schengen Area, Ireland, the U.K. or any other country or region subject to a CDC or State Department travel advisory related to coronavirus, and procedures regarding individuals who traveled to those areas;

4. Whether CBP, CDC, and State Department receive notice of all flights entering the U.S. airports from countries with CDC or State Department travel advisories, including the entities that provide that notice, and whether such notices indicate whether passengers received screenings for coronavirus before boarding their flights; and

5. The airports where federal agencies have implemented enhanced screening procedures related to coronavirus, indicating when enhanced screening procedures started and trainings were provided to those conducting screenings at those airports.

Please contact Subcommittee staff by March 23, 2020, to confirm your agency’s participation in a briefing and to schedule a date for the same.

The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X. If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Subcommittee staff at (202) 225-5051.

Sincerely,

______Raja Krishnamoorthi Chairman Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy

Enclosures cc: The Honorable Michael Cloud, Ranking Member Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy Raja Krishnamoorthi Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy House Oversight and Reform Committee 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi,

My name is Chelsea Connelly. I am a Ph.D. Candidate in the History of Art department at Yale University, and I currently reside in Washington, D.C. I recently returned from a research trip in Italy. Originally, the itinerary was set to take a little over three weeks, and I intended to visit museums, libraries, and churches in Milan, Venice, Ravenna, Florence, Rome, and Naples. On February 23rd, the day I was set to leave, the number of coronavirus cases in Italy doubled over the course of the day, up to 155 confirmed cases by the evening. At the time, the cases were concentrated in the north, so before leaving, I quickly rearranged my plans and purchased a train ticket that would take me to Ravenna immediately upon my arrival in Milan’s airport. I flew on TAP Air from Dulles Airport to and from Lisbon to Milan Malpensa, where I arrived around 5:30pm on February 24th. I wore a mask from the minute I exited the plane in Milan. There were no health screenings or questions about my destination when I went through Customs in Lisbon, but in Milan, I had a thermal screening before I was allowed to leave the terminal. At that point, I quickly got on a train to Milan’s train station, where complete chaos ensued. Most trains were being cancelled, and the station was crowded with people trying to find a way out. My train to Ravenna was not until 8:00pm, but I knew it would be cancelled because all of the trains on that line were being cancelled. I managed to find a train that was heading towards Rome and convinced the conductor to let me on even though it wasn’t my original train. The train probably took off around 9:00pm at a very slow speed and with limited stops. I was originally supposed to switch trains at Bologna to go to Ravenna, but I missed all of the trains from Bologna to Ravenna, so I quickly found a hotel in Bologna for the night. After finding out that the closures in the north had spread to Ravenna, I rearranged plans and took a train to Florence on February 25th. I stayed in Florence through the 28th, when I took a train to Rome. The atmosphere in all three cities was relatively calm. I saw a handful of people wearing masks and putting on hand sanitizer in public. Businesses occasionally put up signs telling people to wash hands or detailing their cleaning measures as well. I was monitoring the case numbers in different regions, and I called the International SOS Travel Security Services Company (Yale has a membership for all students) a few times while I was in Florence and Rome to ask for advice as I saw the CDC escalate its warnings, but they did not offer much guidance. On March 2nd, I received a general email that was sent out to all of the faculty, staff, and students at Yale that asked anyone returning from a CDC Level 3 country, including Italy, to self-isolate for 14 days upon returning to the U.S. I emailed my doctor to confirm, and then began to rearrange my plans to come home on March 5th, much earlier than planned. On March 4th, I received an email from the U.S. Embassy in Rome (since I registered with STEP) that said “all passengers on U.S.- bound flights whose temperature is higher than 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit are not permitted to board.” It did not include any information about self-isolation upon returning. I checked daily, and the CDC’s website also did not indicate that I needed to self-isolate until March 5th. Wearing a mask from the moment I left my hotel, I took a train to Rome Fiumicino Airport on March 5th. The airport was fairly empty, but I did not receive any passport check, questioning, or thermal screening. I did not see any area for thermal screening either. During my Tap Air Portugal flight to Lisbon, the crew distributed flyers from the Portuguese Serviço Nacional de Saúde with instructions in English and Portuguese. It asked anyone who “returned from an affected area” to be alert for 14 days, to avoid contact with other people by a meter on all sides, and to measure their temperature twice a day. It also gave advice on how to protect yourself and a number to call in Portugal if you developed symptoms. My flight was about half full, and most of us were wearing masks. I heard a lot of harsh coughing on the plane as well. At customs in the Lisbon airport, I was not questioned about my time in Italy or my health. While I was waiting to go through the line for the second passport check, another U.S. citizen who had been in Rome began talking to me and tried to shake my hand. I refused, and we continued talking. I mentioned that I was going to self-isolate and he was surprised and asked why, to which I answered about the email from my university. At one point in the conversation, he said to me, “I’m not feeling well” and I then distanced myself from him. During the second passport check, I was asked to remove my mask and then was pulled aside from the regular line. The man asked me if I was feeling sick, if I had been in contact with anyone who was sick, and if I had been to a hospital in Italy. When I said no, he said, “Oh, so you are just wearing the mask for protection? Okay,” and let me go. There was no thermal screening in Lisbon. During my flight to Dulles, I again heard many passengers coughing quite loudly, but very few people were wearing masks. Upon arriving in Dulles, passport control was very empty, and I walked up to the officer at Station 24. He asked me where I was coming from, and I answered Italy. He made a concerned face, and asked, “Where in Italy?” I answered Rome, but that I had originally landed in Milan, where I only stayed for about 5 hours. He made the same concerned face again and asked, “How long ago were you there?” I replied that it had been 8 to 9 days and repeated that I had only been there for about 5 hours and that I had worn a mask the entire time. I then explained that I also spent a day in Bologna and a few days in Florence as well. He didn’t respond to that. He asked, “Are you feeling any symptoms?” and I replied no, but that my job had asked me to self-isolate for 14 days when I got home just in case. He asked what my profession was. I answered, and then he handed me my passport back, and I was allowed to go. I was not thermal screened and did not see any thermal screenings taking place. I also later saw the passenger who had told me he wasn’t feeling well also walking through baggage claim. I continued to wear my mask, took a Lyft back to my apartment, and have been in self- quarantine with my partner since then. While I took great precautions on this research trip and am feeling healthy so far, it is deeply concerning how easily I and the other passengers from Italy came back into the country and how little instruction there was about self-isolation.

Sincerely, Chelsea Alice Connelly

Raja Krishnamoorthi Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy House Oversight and Reform Committee 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Krishnamoorthi,

I’m writing to tell you about my recent travel to and from Italy, and why the official US response concerned me.

I am a news producer for VICE News. I traveled to the Lombardy region of Italy on Monday March 2 to report on the Coronavirus outbreak. At that point the country’s official death toll was only 52. But it was clear that Italy was the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak; Lombardy was Italy’s most affected region; and the epidemic would get worse.

I traveled after weighing the pros and cons of going with my boss, VICE’s security team, and my family. As a young and healthy person, we calculated that the worst-case scenario would be forced quarantine by the US government in a hospital or other facility upon my return. I was hoping that wouldn’t happen, but was prepared for the possibility.

When I arrived at Malpensa airport, it was empty. Italian officials took my temperature before I could go to customs, as they did with the few other people on my flight.

Over the next couple days, I split time between Milan and areas closer to Lombardy’s exclusion zone, which at that time included 10 towns. I did not come into direct contact with anyone visibly sick, but there are places I could have contracted the illness, including: the plane from JFK to Milan; Malpensa airport; the hotel in which I stayed; two restaurants in Milan; one cafe in Lodi; Rome airport; or JFK.

I left Italy on Thursday March 5; by that point, Italy’s death toll had nearly tripled. Many direct flights to the US from Milan had been canceled, including my own, so I flew via Rome. I didn’t go through added security before my domestic flight from Malpensa to Rome. But in Rome, passengers on my flight to JFK had to fill out a form with their contact information, where they’d been the last two weeks, where they were staying in New York.

I handed in my form with my boarding pass. Immediately after, officials made me pause for a couple of seconds before I could proceed to the plane. After getting back to New York, I spoke with a doctor who told me that some thermal scanners can take peoples’ temperatures from a distance, without them realizing. And in February, Rome Airport announced it had begun using thermal scanners. That’s why I believe my temperature was taken in Rome, though I can’t verify the assumption.

When I landed in JFK, I proceeded to the Global Entry machines at security. The machine I used printed out the usual piece of paper with my photo on it, and I headed toward the exit. I gave the slip to a customs agent, who said “Welcome home”. Then I walked to baggage claim to collect my bag.

The worst-case scenario I had mentally prepared for -- forced quarantine -- clearly didn’t come close to happening. But it is shocking that nothing happened to me as someone returning from northern Italy. At a minimum, a government official should have informed me of the CDC’s recommendation to self- quarantine for 14 days, which I am now doing. That’s because it is (perhaps disappointingly, but realistically) irresponsible to assume citizens are consistently educating themselves on the newest minimum responsibilities during an epidemic. Also, my temperature should have been taken. I was just on a 10 hour flight; peoples’ symptoms can develop in that time. The flight from South Korea is even longer. Under an abundance of caution, the US should operate under the assumption that it is not 100% positive all incoming passengers were screened before coming to the US, because there’s no way it can be.

Thank you for reading my letter. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Best, Julia Lindau [email protected] 917.696.3460

Raja Krishnamoorthi Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy House Oversight and Reform Committee 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi,

Due to the coronavirus, my study abroad program was terminated and I was asked to return home to the United States. I had been in Florence, Italy for two months as a study abroad student.

I landed in Peretola Airport, Florence, Italy in early January. Last Tuesday on March 3rd, I left again from Peretola Airport to fly back home. I landed in Lisbon, Portugal for my layover later that night. I was not asked any questions regarding my health or travel, and was not given any thermal tests in either airports. The following evening on March 4th, I left Lisbon, Portugal to fly back to JFK Airport in New York. I arrived in New York at 9:00pm and again was not asked any questions by customs about my travels while living in Italy or anything regarding my health. I also did not receive any thermal tests from JFK airport upon arriving.

Sincerely,

Raja Krishnamoorthi Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy House Oversight and Reform Committee 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi,

On Friday, March 6, I was scheduled to fly on Delta flight # 7741 from Taipei to Narita, and Delta flight # 166 from Narita to Seattle-Tacoma. Delta flight #7741 was a codeshare flight operated by China Airlines. That flight was cancelled, apparently because the airline was scaling back their operations due to lack of passengers (impact of corona virus).

I was rebooked on China Airlines flight #160 to Seoul/Inchon, and Korean Airlines flight #19 to Seattle-Tacoma. These flights were also on Friday, March 6.

When I checked in at the airport at Taipei, I had to fill out a simple form that asked for address, phone number and email address. The check-in counter staff asked where I was going, how long I stayed, and if I had any virus symptoms. At the security checkpoint, there was only the usual screening.

When I arrived in Seoul, I walked to the transfer counter, showed them my boarding pass and passport. They asked me to remove my mask (to visually identify me against the passport picture), and pointed me toward my next boarding gate. Along the way to the gate, there were two women at a desk. I stopped and asked them if they needed to check my temperature. I’m not sure how well they understood me, but regardless they just pointed me toward my gate. In total, I was at the airport in Inchon for 5 hours and 15 minutes (arrived at 11:15AM, departed at 4:00PM).

At the time I arrived at the departure gate, I was asked by airport staff (not airline staff) where I am coming from, have I been to China on this trip, how long I stayed in Taiwan, do I have fever or coughing, and if have I come into contact with anyone who has corona virus (also the customary questions about who packed my bag, if my carry-on was ever left unattended, etc). There was no thermal screening, at least not that I was aware of. E.g., nobody stood in front of me and actively took my temperature with any sort of device. I can say definitely that there was not some form of passive thermal screening that I was unaware of. I can say that I also did not walk through any sort of portal that is evidently thermal screening; I am aware of such devices from past travel experiences.

At about the mid-point of the flight from Inchon to SeaTac, the cabin crew asked passengers if they are U.S. citizens, and then gave a piece of paper with information about corona virus. Upon I arrival at SeaTac airport, I went through the Global Entry process, received my ticket, retrieved my checked bag, and proceeded to the exit point where a CBP officer collects the ticket issued by the Global Entry kiosk. This officer asked where I had been on this trip, how long I was gone, what was the purpose of my trip, how much money I was bringing in to the country, and if the luggage with me was all of my luggage. There were no questions about health, possible contact with other persons infected, etc.

Respectfully, Li Pan

Raja Krishnamoorthi Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy House Oversight and Reform Committee 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Krishnamoorthi,

I was in Athens, Greece the other night when the President announced the European travel restrictions. At first, it seemed to include Americans that were currently in Europe. I was asleep but I immediately got a call from home around 3am Greece time on March 12th. I was told I needed to get home immediately because if I didn’t get back to the United States by midnight Friday I would be stuck in Europe for 30 days.

So I immediately jumped out of bed, scrambled and was able to find a flight home a few hours later from Athens, Greece connecting in Frankfurt, Germany to Newark, New Jersey. It was later clarified that the travel restrictions did not include American citizens but nonetheless I came home. I had already changed my flights and the situation was unclear and confusing.

I, nor anyone I saw traveling on March 12, was given any additional health screening or asked any health related questions in Athens, Frankfurt nor on arrival in Newark.

On arrival in Newark, I deplaned as usual and was through Global Entry and customs in no more than a minute all-in. I wasn’t asked any questions at all let alone health related questions or where I came from or had been. I also didn’t see any signs about Coronavirus in the arrivals hall at Newark. Admittedly I didn’t look hard for them but I felt as though they should’ve been clearly visible to arriving passengers given the severity of this situation.

I was surprised to see no actions being taken in terms of questions, signs, temperatures being taken or anything. It certainly gave me pause given the seriousness of the coronavirus situation.

Thanks for your attention,

Lee Abbamonte

Raja Krishnamoorthi Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy House Oversight and Reform Committee 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Krishnamoorthi, My name is and I work in a sales support capacity for an American software company. My responsibilities involve a fair bit of travel, domestic and international. I have recently concluded one of these extended business trips that brought me to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East within a three week period of February and March of this year, with much of this trip coinciding with the spread of the Coronavirus. Indeed, during this trip the Coronavirus went from background threat to foreground obstacle, cutting my trip short. I write out of concern for how I experienced entry screening procedures in the USA compared to other countries on my recent trip. As background, let me explain what I encountered during my trip. I left from Boston en route to Milan, Italy, via JFK mid-February, landing in Malpensa Airport (MXP) in Milan on February 17, 2020. While I’d heard about the threat of Coronavirus in the media, my reception at MXP brought it home for between disembarking my flight and the EU Immigration desk, I encountered three people in white “bunny suits” holding remote thermal probes checking everyone who walked by. Note that this was before Italy was reporting a spike in cases, almost a week before Italy became a Coronavirus hotspot and the first time I’d ever encountered this kind of screening outside of Asia (by comparison, thermal screening happens every time I enter Japan). Yet there they were screening people coming off a jet from JFK. My next flight out of Italy was not so dramatic: I left Linate airport, a smaller regional airport within Milan, on February 20th en route to Amsterdam. There were no screenings leaving Italy nor again upon my arrival in Amsterdam’s Schipol airport. Air travel within Europe feels a lot more like traveling within the USA. The next day, Friday, February 21st, I was back at Schipol for a flight to Singapore Changi Airport. Prior to boarding there were multiple announcements from the KLM staff that Singapore would deny entry for anyone who had been to China recently. Once I arrived in Singapore on Saturday the 22nd, I again saw remote thermal testing units and I could see masks in use by various people working in the airport. Going through immigration, I was questioned whether I’d been in China recently before being allowed entry. I remained in Singapore until Tuesday, February 25th, during which time I was subject to repeated reminders about Coronavirus as a threat. Singapore has workers cleaning traffic buttons, handrails, and other contact points in public. My flight on the 25th was a quick hop to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, a flight so empty of people that they had to spread us out to balance our weight on the plane. I had some concerns about whether I’d be allowed entry since something in Singapore had triggered my allergies; any one sneeze made me wonder whether I’d be put in an airtight box and left in the sun on the . Fortunately, I keep Benadryl on hand and it did the job of keeping my allergies in check. Landing in KUL I repeated the routine of declaring whether I’d been in China recently, being informed that this would deny entry to Malaysia. I encountered a remote thermal sensor station prior to Immigration. I remained in Malaysia until Friday, February 28th. By this point Italy was in the news and I had received advanced notice that I would not be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia, on my short list of destinations after Malaysia. My flight that Friday was to Dubai, and here I encountered something of a time warp backwards, with no obvious thermal imaging nor any questions about my recent travel history – by this point my passport had recent entry visas for Italy, Singapore, and Malaysia. I was not even asked whether I’d been to China. Nevertheless, before I left Dubai’s airport I asked the ticketing agents about my upcoming travel scheduled for Saudi Arabia. The Emirates agent looked at my passport and said simply, “We will need to refund these tickets”. I considered going to Bahrain to meet a prospect there, but also learned that Bahrain had closed off all entry from Dubai given the number of Iranian businesspeople who go through Dubai. Although I was now denied a flight from Dubai to Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, two colleagues of mine who had come directly from the USA went ahead without me. They left on Tuesday, March 3rd, and relayed later that there were three Coronavirus-focused screenings prior to boarding their Emirates flight in Dubai. On my end, after several days of business in Dubai, I rescheduled my return flight to the USA, a direct flight from Dubai (DXB) to Boston (BOS) on Wednesday, March 4th. I was quite concerned about what would happen next? Italy was now all over the news and my passport bore stamps from a number of places with active cases of Coronavirus. The news indicated that more people in the USA were aware of and concerned about the spread of Coronavirus; my own state of Massachusetts had reported active cases. Amazingly given all of this, my reception in the USA was a match for what I experienced in Dubai. I came in on Emirates EK237 landing at 1:40PM on Wednesday, March 4th. We disembarked from a gate that had us enter from the southeastern side of the Terminal E international arrivals hall. As I hold Global Entry / Trusted Traveler (GOES) status, this made me walk the full length of the hall to reach the kiosks on the far, northwestern end of the hall. At no point in that journey did I see any thermal probes, nor anyone dressed in bio-protective gear, and I heard no pronouncements about Coronavirus nor inquiries about travel to China. The GOES kiosks were their typical model of efficiency, with the perfunctory automated questions about my travels, the health concern only being a stock inquiry as to whether I had visited a farm on my trip? No new questions appeared asking me about potential exposure to Coronavirus in a hotspot country. The kiosk printed a slip for me, per usual, which I presented to the CPB Immigration Officer who took it from my closed passport without any further examination of my passport. This is normal and the reason why you go through the GOES screening process—you have been prescreened and you get express reentry to the USA after they verify your identity. What surprises me is that given the unfolding worldwide public health scare, where people are actively debating whether we have as of yet reached “pandemic” status, that the situation was “normal” and I was not asked at all about whether I’d been in any CDC “High Risk” country? Upon my entering, this was true by definition given my visit to Milan only two weeks prior. There is an Italy entry visa dated February 17th, 2020, in my passport. I expected to see a thermal imaging station and I expected to be asked about my travels, or see a notice with instructions for anyone who had been to a Coronavirus hotspot. Nevertheless, I did not observe any of this. It is possible that there is a different set of screenings for planes that disembark on the northwestern side of Terminal E, but even if that is true it would be incomplete screening in light of my travel history. I am happy to report that I am in excellent health and have not developed any flu-like symptoms, nor has anyone in my family suddenly taken ill. I’m sure this is partly thanks to the fact that I get my sleep, eat healthily, and exercise regularly both at home and on the road. Sincerely yours,