Per the BBC, President Donald Trump has announced a new set of sweeping travel restrictions from much of Europe to the United States, as coronavirus continues to spread.
The "strong but necessary" restrictions do not apply to the United Kingdom, the BBC stated.
President Trump announced the restrictions in an address from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, and a White House spokesperson said the new rules would go into effect from 11.59pm on Friday.
A Chinese grandmother recovers from coronavirus in just six days:"To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days," the President said, though it was later clarified by officials that the restrictions would only apply to foreign nationals from 26 countries in the Schengen border-free travel area.
Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf praised the move in a statement, saying that it would protect Americans:
"The actions President Trump is taking to deny entry to foreign nationals who have been in affected areas will keep Americans safe and save American lives,"
President Trump said the European Union had failed to take similar precautions to "restrict travel from China and other hot spots."
"As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe."
Meanwhile, the NBA has announced that it is suspending all games until further notice after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive for the virus.
In a statement, the league said;
"A player on the Utah Jazz has preliminary tested positive for COVID-19. The test result was reported shortly prior to the tip-off of tonight's game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
"At that time, tonight's game was canceled. The affected player was not in the arena.
"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice. The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic."
The WHO (World Health Organization) yesterday called the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, stating;
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.
"We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.
"Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."
