There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths.
Highlights
- Donald Trump said US suspends all travel from Europe, excluding the UK
- World Health Organization declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic
- Over 1.24 lakh coronavirus cases and 4,500 deaths globally
US President Donald Trump has suspended all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days, starting Friday, amid scare over novel coronavirus or COVID-19, indicating that the ban would include halting trade. He said "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 - which has spread to over 100 countries - 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."
"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!," one of his tweets read.
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 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 coronavirus 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)