The spread of coronavirus infections in countries all across Europe has prompted the United States president Donald Trump to suspend all flights from mainland Europe entering the US for 30 days.
The suspension will start from midnight on Friday but will not be applicable for the United Kingdom.
The authorities in the European Union were not quick enough to take measures to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus, Trump said and added that the US clusters where the virus has been found were "seeded" by people who had traveled to or were returning form Europe.
“We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe,” Trump said.
The situation in Europe and the US would be closely monitored by the US authorities about whether the travel restrictions could be lifted earlier.
"These countries, known as the Schengen Area, include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland," said a Homeland Security spokesman.
Trump’s move was criticized by the European Union has condemned and termed it to be a "unilateral decision" that was taken "without consultation".
The coronavirus pandemic is a "global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires co-operation rather than unilateral action", said the EU Council president Charles Michel and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a joint statement.
"The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation," they said.
Additionally, the US also has announced deferment of tax payments for some individuals and businesses for three months in order ot help them to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus infection.
Low-interest loans will also be made available to businesses by the Small Business Administration to help them combat the coronavirus threat, Trump said.
"This is not a financial crisis," he said. "This just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world."
There was however panic in the stock markets to the decision of the Trump administration which also had its ripples throughout other global markets as well.
Right across the United States, public events were cancelled by communities while in-person classes were cancelled by universities. There were also problems with families because of disruptions to public schools.
In the US, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus was more than 1,000 even as the spread of the disease caused by the virus – Covid19, wad declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
In one of the major impacts to global sports, the NBA has suspended the entire season of the games in the US because of the outbreak "until further notice", the Association said in a statement. This decision was prompted after it was found that Rudy Gobert - player for the team Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus which resulted in the postponement of its match with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
(Source:www.news.sky.com)
The suspension will start from midnight on Friday but will not be applicable for the United Kingdom.
The authorities in the European Union were not quick enough to take measures to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus, Trump said and added that the US clusters where the virus has been found were "seeded" by people who had traveled to or were returning form Europe.
“We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe,” Trump said.
The situation in Europe and the US would be closely monitored by the US authorities about whether the travel restrictions could be lifted earlier.
"These countries, known as the Schengen Area, include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland," said a Homeland Security spokesman.
Trump’s move was criticized by the European Union has condemned and termed it to be a "unilateral decision" that was taken "without consultation".
The coronavirus pandemic is a "global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires co-operation rather than unilateral action", said the EU Council president Charles Michel and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a joint statement.
"The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation," they said.
Additionally, the US also has announced deferment of tax payments for some individuals and businesses for three months in order ot help them to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus infection.
Low-interest loans will also be made available to businesses by the Small Business Administration to help them combat the coronavirus threat, Trump said.
"This is not a financial crisis," he said. "This just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world."
There was however panic in the stock markets to the decision of the Trump administration which also had its ripples throughout other global markets as well.
Right across the United States, public events were cancelled by communities while in-person classes were cancelled by universities. There were also problems with families because of disruptions to public schools.
In the US, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus was more than 1,000 even as the spread of the disease caused by the virus – Covid19, wad declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
In one of the major impacts to global sports, the NBA has suspended the entire season of the games in the US because of the outbreak "until further notice", the Association said in a statement. This decision was prompted after it was found that Rudy Gobert - player for the team Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus which resulted in the postponement of its match with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
(Source:www.news.sky.com)
