Trump places 30-day ban on travel between Europe, US

The Trump administration will suspend travel between European countries and the United States for 30 days as the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic continues to grow.

The measure will go into effect at midnight Friday, Trump said during a nationally televised message from the White House on Wednesday. He said the “strong but necessary” restrictions would not apply to the United Kingdom.

After his address, Trump also stressed the travel restriction applies to people and will not impact trade.

“The restriction stops people not goods,” he tweeted.

As the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, the U.S. and many other nations have enacted tough measures to contain the illness, including barring foreign visitors from countries ravaged by the outbreak.

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“I’m confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and we’ll ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus,” Trump said.

The Trump administration so far has barred travellers from mainland China, where the virus originated last December, and Iran, which also has seen a spike in infections, from entering the United States.

The restrictions covered any foreign nationals who visited those countries within the past 14 days.