Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – US President Donald Trump announced new travel restrictions on visitors from European countries on Wednesday, March 11, in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The president has suspended all flights from 26 European countries to the US, with the notable exception of the UK and Ireland, for the next 30 days.
Trump called the actions “strong but necessary” to mitigate the spread of the disease in the US.
The US confirmed over 1,000 cases of COVID-19, most of which are clustered on the East and West coasts.
The rules will go into effect on Friday, March 13, at midnight; however, the president assured that the restrictions will not apply to US citizens who are returning from Europe, so long as they have “undergone appropriate screenings.”
Trump assured that the restrictions will not affect US trade with Europe.
The restrictions follow the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier on Wednesday that officially labeled the novel coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic.
WHO defines a pandemic as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.” The label of pandemic has no strict correlation with how serious an illness is, however.
Other countries have taken similar steps to mitigate the spread of the virus. Morocco’s national airline, Royal Air Maroc, announced on Tuesday that it would be suspending all flights to and from Italy, the country with the highest number of cases in Europe.
The carrier said the decision came after a government mandate to suspend travel to the country, an expansion on the previous restrictions that suspended flights to and from the Italian cities of Milan and Venice.
Morocco has confirmed six cases of the novel coronavirus, with the first reported on March 2. The country announced in a press release on March 10 that the second patient who was diagnosed in the country, an 89-year-old Moroccan woman who had recently arrived from Italy, had died due to preexisting health complications.
Four of the patients came in contact with the virus in France, but the Moroccan government has not publicly discussed the possibility of placing travel restrictions on more European countries.
The cases of COVID-19 have surpassed 126,000 worldwide, and there have been over 4,000 deaths, according to WHO. The disease has been confirmed in over 100 countries. Over 80,000 of the cases have been reported in China, with Italy having the second-highest number of cases at over 12,000.
Read also: Morocco to Lose 100,000 Tourists in March Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
