Coronavirus Outbreak: Trump suspends travel from Europe to US

President Donald Trump announced on Monday the United States would ban all travel from Europe for 30 days to stop the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump, in an address to the nation, said: “To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight.”

The travel order does not apply to US citizens.

He also criticized the European Union saying that it had “failed to take the same precautions” as the US in fighting the virus.

A presidential proclamation, published shortly after Trump’s speech, specified that the ban applied to anyone who had been in the EU’s Schengen border-free area in the 14 days before their arrival in the US.

The Schengen area, as defined in the proclamation, includes 26 European states, but does not include the UK or Ireland, which will not be subject to the ban.

POTUS initially said the travel suspension would also “apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo” coming from Europe into the US.

Later, he tweeted to say that trade would “in no way be affected”.

In the US, there are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus, with 38 deaths reported so far.