There is a new piece of paperwork standing between international travelers and their flights to America. It does not ask whether you have a passport, a visa or a green card. It asks where you have been.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will now require everyone boarding an international flight to the United States to declare that they have not been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the preceding 21 days.
The new Ebola-related travel rules take effect November 3, and applies to American citizens, green-card holders, tourists and travelers merely connecting through the United States. Even aircraft crew members are covered.
At a Congolese Restaurant in Ohio, Questions Without Easy Answers
At Soso Cuisine, a Congolese restaurant at 1913 S. Alex Road in West Carrollton, Ohio, the new CDC requirement brings the distant geography of an Ebola outbreak uncomfortably close to home.
For families with relatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the questions are as practical as they are unsettling: Will Grandma still make her flight? Does a brief airport connection count as a visit? And who explains the rules to relatives who have already purchased their tickets? The uncertainty is easy to imagine in a restaurant where the familiar comforts of Congolese cooking offer a reminder of home
The Layover That Could Ruin Your Homecoming
For everyone traveling abroad or welcoming relatives to America, a connection through Kinshasa or another Congolese airport counts as having been in the DRC—even if you never leave the terminal or step off the aircraft.
Flying over the country without landing does not count.
Anyone who has been in the DRC must generally wait until Day 22 after departure before boarding a U.S.-bound flight.
