by Eric Bowman
Last updated: 10:25 PM ET, Wed March 11, 2020
On Wednesday night in a national address from the Oval Office, President Trump announced that he would be taking "several strong but necessary" actions in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that continues to impact the world.
Starting on Friday, the United States will be suspending all travel from Europe for 30 days. However, these restrictions do not apply to the United Kingdom. The U.S. Homeland security also clarified that this only pertains to foreign nationals, it does not apply to U.S. citizens.
All of this is in an effort to "protect the health and well-being of all Americans to keep new cases from entering our shores," Trump said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced the coronavirus as a global pandemic. It has killed over 4,000 people and infected more than 100,000 people around the world, with over 1,200 cases having been reported in the United States.
"These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground," Trump said. "These prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing."
"At the same time we are monitoring the situation in China in the South Korea, and as their situation improves we will re-evaluate the restrictions and warnings that are currently in place for a possible early opening earlier this week," Trump continued.
Currently, the CDC lists China, Iran, Italy and South Korea as counties with a Level 3 Travel Health Notice of widespread, ongoing transmission.
The travel industry continues to be hit hard, but there are places where you can still travel.
For more stories on how the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting travel, follow TravelPulse's coronavirus trend page.
Topics From This Article to Explore
