Republican Senators Call for Travel Ban Between U.S. and China Due to Spike in Respiratory Illness Cases
Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and four other GOP senators have written a letter to President Joe Biden’s administration urging them to implement a travel ban between the United States and China. This request comes after a sudden increase in Chinese respiratory illness cases.
According to the letter, the ban on travel is necessary “until we know more about the dangers posed by this new illness.” The letter was signed by Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, along with Senators J.D. Vance, Rick Scott, Tommy Tuberville, and Mike Braun.
The surge in cases raised concerns globally after the World Health Organization (WHO) requested more information from China following reports of undiagnosed pneumonia clusters in children.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, responded to the Rubio letter by stating that the claims made were “ill-intentioned fabrications” and that China firmly opposes them.
Meanwhile, a Biden administration official stated that the United States is closely monitoring the increase in respiratory illnesses in China. However, they added, “We are seeing seasonal trends. Nothing is appearing out of the ordinary.”
Reports from the WHO’s department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention suggest that the recent increase in respiratory illness in China is linked to an uptick in the number of children contracting pathogens that they had avoided during two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
The call for a travel ban between the U.S. and China comes as the number of approved flights between the two countries has been steadily increasing in recent months. However, the rise in cases has sparked concerns and led to calls for stricter travel measures.
As of now, the Biden administration has not announced any plans to implement a travel ban between the U.S. and China. The request from Republican senators is likely to ignite a debate over the appropriate response to the growing concerns about the surge in respiratory illness cases in China.