Trump Suspends Travel From Continental Europe to USA to Contain Coronavirus

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – US President Donald Trump announced last night that the US will suspend all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days as a means to “protect Americans” from the coronavirus, which Trump classified as a global pandemic.

The suspension will take effect from Friday, March 13th, at midnight, but will not be valid for the United Kingdom, which will continue to have flights to the United States. The restrictions are also not valid for those who have permanent residence in US territory.

“We are responding with great speed and professionalism [to the threat of the coronavirus],” Trump said.

Trump said he reached the decision after consulting with health officials. He said these measures, “tough but necessary,” were taken to protect the “health and well-being of all Americans”.

The US President said that this measure will “significantly” reduce the threat posed by the coronavirus to Americans.

Trump compared the decision to suspend flights from Europe to the US restriction on flights from China and Iran when the coronavirus crisis began. He criticized the way Europe had handled this and said that the continent should have taken similar measures and thus prevented the spread of the coronavirus around the world.

During the 9-minute speech, Trump added that the coronavirus crisis was not financial and said he would take emergency action to help Americans suffering from the virus who were quarantined or forced to remain away to care for infected people.

The President also called on the US Congress to approve tax cuts to help counter any economic losses caused by the virus.

Source: Agência Brasil

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