UK dodges Trump’s Europe-wide travel ban
President Trump just took the most drastic action yet to cut off the spread of coronavirus.
The US is off limits for about 500 million residents of continental Europe starting from Friday, for at least the next 30 days.
In a prime time address to the nation, Trump said all travelers from Europe will be banned from the US, but the United Kingdom and Ireland have been spared.
"Ultimately and expeditiously we can defeat this virus," Trump said.
The ban applies to travelers who have been in 26 European countries in the last 14 days.
These include France, Germany, all Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.
Americans traveling back from Europe must ‘travel through select airports where the US government has implemented enhanced screening procedures," said acting department of homeland security secretary Chad Wolf.
The ban will ‘deny entry to foreign nationals who have been in affected areas and will keep Americans safe and save American lives,’ said Wolf.
The Administration notes ‘the Schengen Area has exported 201 covid-19 cases to 53 countries. Moreover, the free flow of people between the Schengen Area countries makes the task of managing the spread of the virus difficult."
US airlines are scrambling to make the necessary changes.
Delta ‘will continue to quickly make adjustments to service, as needed, in response to government travel directives.’
"We will comply with the administration’s announcement," United Airlines said.
With the UK exempt, London’s Heathrow Airport could see a spike in traffic as the major gateway betyween North America and the European continent, even though general travel demand has plummeted.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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