Washington:
US President Donald Trump has suspended all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days amid scare over novel coronavirus or COVID-19, adding that the "strong but necessary" restrictions would not apply to the UK where 460 cases of the illness have been confirmed. "Europe saw more cases because governments failed to stop travel from China, where the COVID-19 epidemic began," Mr Trump said in his address to the nation.
The move comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called the coronavirus outbreak a "pandemic", issuing a grim warning that the global spread and severity of the illness was due to "alarming levels of inaction".
Europe has faced a mounting number of cases — including a slew of new countries clocking first deaths — prompting governments to roll out increasingly tough measures to slow the rapid spread of the virus.
Hours before his official address, Mr Trump, in a series of tweets, said that "US is making a policy to prevent, detect, treat and create a vaccine against coronavirus to save lives in America and the world".
….Together we are putting into policy a plan to prevent, detect, treat and create a vaccine against CoronaVirus to save lives in America and the world. America will get it done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2020
"America is the Greatest Country in the world. We have the best scientists, doctors, nurses and health care professionals. They are amazing people who do phenomenal things every day….," he wrote in another post.
"Together, we will PREVAIL!", he wrote in one of the tweets.
….We have the greatest healthcare system, experts, scientists and doctors anywhere in the world. Together, we will PREVAIL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2020
Trump asked the media to view this as a time of unity and strength and said the country must beat the enemy of the World, the Coronavirus as quickly and safely as possible.
The Media should view this as a time of unity and strength. We have a common enemy, actually, an enemy of the World, the CoronaVirus. We must beat it as quickly and safely as possible. There is nothing more important to me than the life & safety of the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2020
The Washington on Wednesday declared a state of emergency over coronavirus. The mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, made the announcement as the US capital confirmed 10 cases of the infection.
The number of cases across the globe has risen to more than 124,000 with 4,500 deaths, including a jump in fatalities particularly in Iran and Italy.
(With Inputs from AFP)
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