At least 430,000 people have traveled on direct flights to the United States from China since SARS-CoV-2 emerged in the communist nation — including nearly 40,000 who have arrived since President Trump imposed travel restrictions two months ago.

“The bulk of the passengers, who were of multiple nationalities, arrived in January, at airports in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Newark and Detroit. Thousands of them flew directly from Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak, as American public health officials were only beginning to assess the risks to the United States,” The New York Times reported.

The first case of coronavirus COVID-19 was diagnosed Dec. 1 in Wuhan, according to Chinese officials.

On Jan. 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency of international concern. The same day, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the first time confirmed person-to-person spread of the Wuhan virus and applauded WHO’s decision. And also that same day, Trump created the White House Coronavirus Task Force to coordinate U.S. efforts regarding the new disease.

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The next day, on Jan. 31, the president declared coronavirus a U.S. public health emergency and issued a travel ban between the United States and China. Campaigning in Iowa that day, Biden criticized Trump’s China travel ban, saying, “This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia.”

But flights have continued, The Times wrote.

“Flights continued this past week, the data show, with passengers traveling from Beijing to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, under rules that exempt Americans and some others from the clampdown that took effect on Feb. 2. In all, 279 flights from China have arrived in the United States since then, and screening procedures have been uneven, interviews show.”

On Friday, Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said Trump’s implementation of a travel restriction on China was a “bold decisive action which medical professionals say will prove to have saved countless lives.”