For the last few days, I was treated to a first-hand experience of how woefully unprepared this country was to face the coronavirus pandemic.
My girlfriend lives just a hair over an hour north of Atlanta, between Gainesville and Clermont. She went on a mission trip to Puerto Rico with her church in late February, then flew back to her hometown in West Michigan to be with her mom through cancer surgery. Well, after over a month, she was due to come home. One problem—she was nervous about flying into Hartsfield due to the large number of international travelers still passing through there, as well as reports that TSA agents based there were coming down with COVID-19.
Initially, she planned to fly down here to Charlotte, crash with me for a couple of days, and rent a car to drive back home. But that got upended when Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, issued a stay-at-home order effective Thursday morning. So we spent the night at a hotel near Carowinds, then I drove her home on Thursday. After helping her get settled and spending some sorely-needed quality time together, I drove back home on Friday morning.
If there was any doubt that this was absolutely the only option, it was erased when I saw this horrifying story from WSB-TV in Atlanta. Several passengers from the Costa Luminosa, a Norwegian-registered cruise ship, flew into Hartsfield as part of the final leg of their trips home. In case you missed it, almost 400 Americans and Canadians evacuated the ship in Marseille when several passengers came down with coronavirus symptoms.
According to several passengers, they were allowed to go home without being checked for coronavirus symptoms. At least one woman was allowed to go to Phoenix, and is now in the hospital with COVID-19.
I had to read this story twice to make myself believe it. It’s not the Onion. It’s not Borowitz. Apparently, there is STILL no coronavirus protocol for the busiest airport in the world. That was when I realized we were doing the right thing. I could not in good conscience let my girlfriend fly into what could only be described as a petri dish when I was within reasonable driving distance.
This was yet another reminder that the coronavirus crisis is the product of a series of cascading failures. Firing or sidelining the very personnel who could have allowed us to get out in front of this disaster. Downplaying it as just the flu. Not having the sense to close beaches. And now not having basic protocols in place at airports even after this thing has become a monster.