Trump suspends all travel from Europe to the United States to fight coronavirus, UK exempted

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Under pressure to act, President Donald Trump on Wednesday suspended all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days starting on Friday in order to fight the coronavirus.

Trump said the travel restrictions did not apply to the United Kingdom. He did not provide a list of countries but said simply the restrictions applied to all of Europe.

The president, who faces re-election in November, took the dramatic step in a somber Oval Office speech as he battles to address the health and economic shocks to Americans and responds to mounting criticism that he has underplayed the threat from the mushrooming coronavirus crisis.

“We are marshalling the full power of the federal government and the private sector to protect the American people,” he said.

“This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.”

As the U.S. stock market took another hit from the virus on Wednesday, Trump said he would take emergency action to provide financial relief for workers who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to the illness.

He said he was instructing the Treasury Department to defer tax payments without interest or penalties for certain businesses and individuals affected.

Trump added he was also instructing the Small Business Administration to provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the virus.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.