‘Appalled’ by O’Hare scene: ‘This is not poor planning. This is no planning’

• Updated: March 15, 2020

Northwestern University infectious disease expert Dr. Robert Murphy said he was “appalled” Saturday night when he saw chaotic pictures from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as employees scrambled to screen travelers returning from Europe in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. There are concerns a similar scene could play out at the airport today as well.

Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, provided three reasons why the scene at O’Hare was “unacceptable.”

It’s Dangerous. “Persons arriving from epidemic areas of the world are then placed in a confined, crowded, inadequately ventilated area for six to nine hours. If they weren’t exposed to COVID-19 before, they probably are now. From a public health perspective, this is malpractice.”  

It’s Disorganized. “Everyone was aware these at-risk Americans were returning Saturday and Sunday. The lack of preparation and concern is unfathomable. This is not ‘poor planning.’ This is ‘no planning.’”  

It’s Disgraceful. “International travel is hard enough, but to then spend almost as many hours waiting to be screened makes it all that much worse. The African airports I travelled through during the Ebola outbreak were more organized than this.” 

Murphy is available for interviews with the media Sunday and this week. Reporters should e-mail Kristin Samuelson at ksamuelson@northwestern.edu or call (mobile) 847-769-6596 to schedule an interview.