Coronavirus: Donald Trump explains why he imposed travel restrictions on Europe

President, Donald Trump yesterday night gave reasons for his decision to suspend all travels from Europe to the United States over the outbreak of coronavirus.

In a televised address at the White House, Trump alleged that the European Union failed to take necessary steps to prevent the virus from entering its territory.

As a result, he said, a large number of new cases in the U.S. were by travellers from Europe.

According to him, the new rules, aimed at keeping new cases from entering the country, would last for 30 days with effect from midnight on Friday.

However, he said the restrictions would not apply to the United Kingdom, which had 460 confirmed cases of the virus as at Wednesday night.

BreakingTimes reports that there were 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus and 38 deaths in the U.S. as of Wednesday.

The virus, otherwise known as COVID-19, originated from China in December, resulting in 118,326 cases and 4,4292 deaths worldwide as of Wednesday.

Trump said: “At the very start of the outbreak, we instituted sweeping travel restrictions on China and put in place the first federally mandated quarantine in over 50 years.

“We declared a public health emergency and issued the highest level of travel warning on other countries as the virus spread its horrible infection.

“We have seen dramatic fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.

“The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travels from China and other hotspots.

“As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were ceded by travelers from Europe.”

Trump explained that the travel suspension would also “apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo” coming into the U.S. from Europe.

The rules, he said, “will be adjusted, subject to conditions on the ground, and there will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings.”