Americans Stuck Abroad Told Not to Wait for U.S. Assistance

(Bloomberg) -- Americans stuck overseas because of travel restrictions and flight cutbacks related to the coronavirus pandemic shouldn’t count on the U.S. government to get them home, the State Department said.

While the department has evacuated hundreds of Americans, mostly from China, U.S. citizens shouldn’t rely on that as a way to get back instead of finding commercial flights, according to a department spokesperson who made the remarks on condition of anonymity.

American citizens abroad have struggled as nations around the world heighten travel restrictions in response to the coronavirus. While most of those limits are on travelers trying to get in, some nations have also sought to control the flow of people leaving.

Peru announced Sunday that it was closing sea and air transport, and Honduras has also closed its borders to passenger traffic.

Asked about what the State Department was prepared to do for its employees and Americans overseas, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told reporters in Washington on Tuesday he didn’t want to “spend too much time talking about the intricacies” of the response.

“State Department officials and every American should know we’re going to do everything we can to take care of our team,” Pompeo said.

U.S. travelers -- perhaps in the thousands -- are also hampered by flight cutbacks. American Airlines Group Inc. said it was slashing long-haul international flights by 75% -- the biggest reductions to date by a U.S.-based carrier -- starting this week because of the collapse in travel demand and government restrictions.

Democrats in Congress have sought to tie the State Department response to broader failings by the Trump administration to address the coronavirus pandemic. In a March 16 letter, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, demanded a fuller accounting of what Pompeo has done to protect Americans overseas.

“As our nation and the world comes to terms with the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is apparent that the U.S. government response to address this global threat has thus far fallen far short,” Menendez wrote. “I am similarly concerned that the State Department has not responded with the urgency or focus required to protect our citizens abroad and diplomatic personnel.”

The State Department arranged chartered flights to evacuate American citizens stuck in the quarantine zone in Wuhan, China, at the start of the outbreak but has otherwise largely refrained from flying out American citizens. Some State Department employees have been allowed to return home from diplomatic posts in areas of especially severe coronavirus outbreaks.

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