US vice-president Joe Biden said yesterday he would tell his family to stay off planes or subways to avoid swine flu, prompting his office to go into damage control and the travel industry to complain.
Asked on NBC’s Today show what he would tell members of his family if they asked him whether they should get on a commercial airliner to Mexico in the next week, Mr Biden said: “I would tell members of my family – and I have – I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now.” He said the problem is that “when one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft . . . I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway. So from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation,” he said.
Mr Biden is famous for making blunt comments. The Obama White House quickly sought to fix what he had said.
Homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano told MSNBC that if Mr Biden “could say that over again, he would say if they’re feeling sick they should stay off of public transit or confined spaces . . . That is the advice that we have been giving.”
Mr Biden’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Alexander, sought to clarify his remarks in a statement issued shortly after his interview.
“The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico,” she said.
If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways. This is the advice the vice-president has given family members.”