Trump wants to screen South American tourists for Covid-19

U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is in talks with airlines over ways to screen South American travelers for Covid-19. “We’re talking to the governor, we’re talking with others also that have a lot of business coming in from South America, Latin America, and we’ll make a determination,” Mr. Trump said, during an Oval Office meeting with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “We’re also setting up a system where we do some testing and we’re working with the airlines on that. Testing on the plane.”

According to The Hill’s Brett Samuels, Mr. DeSantis showed concern over the development of the Covid-19 outbreak in South America — as his state attracts many tourists from the region. The growing curve of cases and deaths related to the coronavirus in Brazil has alarmed international media outlets, the country’s Covid-19 situation hit the headlines of media outlets such as Bloomberg and The New York Times, which labeled the country as a potential new epicenter of the outbreak.

Brazil-Florida relations

An estimated 300,000 Brazilians live in Florida — the largest Brazilian community in any U.S. state. Moreover, no North American city attracts more tourists from Brazil than Miami and Orlando. The state also attracts a large chunk of Brazilian investment in the U.S. — with the country ranking as the top foreign nation buying South Florida homes in 2018, according to a report from the Miami Association of Realtors.

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