The president blames the EU for not acting quickly enough and claims US coronavirus clusters were “seeded” by European travellers.
Donald Trump has suspended all flights from mainland Europe to the US for 30 days following the spread of coronavirus cases across the continent.
The US president said the sanctions will come into effect from midnight on Friday, Eastern Standard Time – but will not apply to flights from the UK.
He blamed the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the outbreak of the virus and said US clusters were “seeded” by European travellers.
Mr Trump said: “We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe.”
The president said the US would monitor the situation to determine if travel could be reopened earlier.
A Homeland Security spokesman said: “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.”
At one point in the address he said the ban would also apply to goods and cargo, but the White House later clarified that only people were affected.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council tweeted his reaction to the ban, saying: “Following the travel ban @realDonaldTrump announced, we will assess the situation today.
“Economic disruption must be avoided. #Europe is taking all necessary measures to contain the spread of the #COVID19 virus, limit the number of affected people and support research.”
Mr Trump also announced the US will defer tax payments for some individuals and businesses for three months to lessen the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
He said the Small Business Administration will also make low-interest loans available to businesses to help them weather the storm.
“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.”
On Thursday morning, stock markets reacted to Mr Trump’s announcement with panic, setting them up for another day of heavy losses.
After days of playing down the threat, Mr Trump changed gears with his Oval Office address.
Source: Skynews
