Originally Posted by
milypan
Unless they cut back on testing to mechanically make the numbers look better, we should expect the Seattle MSA to have 400+ confirmed cases in ~10 days. That will put them where Italy was roughly 10 days ago, though perhaps concentrated in a smaller population. So there is certainly some risk.
That said, I assume Fiji has more or lose from offending the US than it does from offending Italy. Also, as the situation becomes worse everywhere (except China, ironically), targeted travel restrictions will become increasingly less effective.
I don't think it has much to do with "offending" the US - Think about it, a small country without resources to fight the virus or deal with lots of sick people! Maybe they're just trying to prevent the virus in their country and protect their own citizens.