US imposes entry ban on foreigners who travelled to China over last 2 weeks

The United States government has announced that foreign nationals who have travelled to China in the last two weeks will not be allowed to enter the country. The development took place on Friday, a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of the coronavirus as a global health emergency.

READ: US Raises Travel Advisory Over Coronavirus; Asks Citizens To Not Travel To China

USA restricts entry

US President Donald Trump signed the order that will temporarily bar foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China within the last 14 days. The new restrictions, will take effect at 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, and were announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. 

On Thursday, the US State Department raised the travel advisory to Level 4 and asked its citizens to not travel to China. The State department's notification read, "Those currently in China should consider departing using commercial means. The Department of State has requested that all non-essential U.S. government personnel defer travel to China in light of the novel coronavirus."

READ: Google Launches 'SOS Alert' Amid Coronavirus Outbreak To Help Users

The Director-General of WHO, on Thursday, said, "The vast majority of cases outside China have a travel history to Wuhan, or contact with someone with a travel history to Wuhan. We don’t know what sort of damage this 2019nCoV virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system. We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility. For all of these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of 2019nCoV."

READ: Donald Trump Creates Task Force To Monitor Deadly Coronavirus

READ: WHO Declares Coronavirus Outbreak A Global Health Emergency