An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit was diverted to Montreal Wednesday night after United States authorities barred it from entering the U.S., citing new restrictions for people who who have recently travelled to three East Africa Countries, where a deadly Ebola outbreak has taken hold. The passenger disembarked at Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport, was assessed by a quarantine officer, and flew back to Paris, said Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada, in a statement. Health officials determined
the passenger was asymptomatic, Johnson added. The U.S.-bound plane continued on to Detroit. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda one of international concern. The WHO says there are about 600 suspected cases and at least 139 suspected deaths from the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. The outbreak was first confirmed by health authorities in those regions on Friday. The United States has said it will increase screening for people arriving from affected regions and also restrict
people with non-U.S. passports from entering the country if they have been in Uganda, Congo or South Sudan in the past 21 days. U.S. authorities say the passenger on the Air France flight Wednesday was from the Democratic Republic of Congo and said the airline boarded the passenger in error. “The passenger should not have boarded the plane,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a written statement. “CBP took decisive action and prohibited the flight carrying that traveler from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne
County Airport, and instead, diverted to Montreal,” the statement said.
Air France, Ebola, Montreal diversion, U.S. restrictions, Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Public Health Agency of Canada, Mark Johnson, Bundibugyo strain
So they just let it go to Detroit anyway? That seems insane.
I don’t get it… if it’s Ebola, why divert to Montreal and then still fly on? Like what exactly did changing airports fix? Sounds like the passenger got off and then everyone else was fine or something.
My cousin said they were doing “new restrictions” but people keep mixing up Congo and Uganda like it’s all the same place. Also says he was asymptomatic, so is it even contagious if he felt fine? The airline “boarded in error” sounds like a paperwork oops, but those are always how stuff spreads.
Asymptomatic doesn’t mean safe though, right? I’m glad they assessed him at Montreal, but diverting the whole flight feels like panic theater. If WHO has 600 suspected cases then this should be full lockdown, not “we screened him” and moved on. Also Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Detroit… how much time do you even gain by circling around Canada? Seems like the U.S. was just trying to avoid the headline of it landing.