'Everybody Panicked And Ran': New Europe Travel Restrictions Have Americans Scrambling
BOSTON (CBS) - "I'm so relieved. I'm so happy to be here," said Gabriella Lunati, collapsing into her parents arms at Boston Logan airport's international terminal. Like many passengers on her flight from Amsterdam, she was happier than ever to be home. "Left a lot of things behind. I was studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark," she said.
President Trump's announcement of coronavirus-related restrictions on travel from much of Europe sent Americans there into a tailspin. "After 30 minutes, everything was sold out, out of Sweden," said Cara Rudnicki from Franklin, who was on a business trip. "Everybody panicked and ran. It was hard because…It was on CNN. I was in Sweden, so it was hard to understand it, so we all just ran," she said.
Mike Staley, who's a contractor, was on a job in Kuwait. "We expedited our trip out of there so we wouldn't get stuck there for a couple weeks," he said.
There were college students on spring break. "Both of our moms called and were very scared, like we don't want that flight to get cancelled," said Luke Snyder, who was wearing a mask. "Definitely being back is kind of a relief," said his friend Jack McCaghren.
On the other end, people who had planned to leave for Europe are pulling back on vacation plans. "We are booked on a flight actually tonight," said Cornelia Weber, who was heading to Switzerland. She worried she wouldn't be able to return to Boston. "From tomorrow on, the flights are already canceled," she said.
"Websites were crashing," said a college student from Germany, who took the first flight home she could find. "Even though I don't think that, for example, my university would, in the near future have a case, this is not a situation in which you would want to wait until there is a case," she said.
