Source: WSJ.com:
Officials were quick to correct a gaffe by Vice President Joe Biden this morning warning about travel amid swine flu fears, but the comments underscore the biggest economic threat of a pandemic.
On the Today Show Biden was asked what he would say to a member of his family thinking of traveling on a commercial airline to Mexico. “I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” the vice president said. “You’re in confined aircraft. When one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. I would not be — at this point, if they had another way of transportation — suggesting they ride the subway. From my perspective what it relates to is mitigation. If you’re out in the middle of a field and someone sneezes, that’s one thing. If you’re in a closed aircraft or a closed container, a closed car, a closed classroom, it’s a different thing.”
Source: Washington Times
The White House scrambled Thursday to tell Americans to pay no attention to the advice of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who said he's told family members not to travel in subways or airplanes to avoid catching the swine flu.
The latest gaffe from the vice president directly contradicted President Obama, who Wednesday evening had told Americans not to panic or overreact, and instead to take simple measures such as washing hands to combat the flu outbreak.
Asked what advice he would give to a family member planning to travel by airplane to Mexico, Mr. Biden told NBC he would caution them not to go.
He said it wasn't about going to Mexico, but rather that "you're in a confined aircraft when one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway. So from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation."
Source: Charleston Daily Mail
Avoid all airline travel? Don't ride the subway?
Cue the backpedaling.
At 8:47 a.m., Biden's office put out a statement gamely trying to rewrite the vice president's words:
"The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico," said Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander. "If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways."
By 10 a.m., Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano had supplied her own do-over for the VP:
"If he could say that over again, he would say if they're feeling sick they should stay off of public transit or confined spaces because that is indeed the advice that we're giving," Napolitano said on MSNBC.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also tried to close the gap that Biden left between "what he said and what he meant to say."
"If anybody was unduly alarmed for whatever reason, we would apologize for that," Gibbs added.
The people who provide and promote travel on planes and trains were not amused.
There was "extreme disappointment." There was talk of "fear-mongering." There was gentle scolding. There was clarification.
For the record, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site says this: "CDC has NOT recommended that people avoid travel at this time."
