The United States President Donald Trump’s plan to ban the entry for European countries, which are part of the Schengen Agreement, came into force on Friday, closing the US borders to 26 European countries, due to the pandemic COVID-19.
Nationals of the UK, Ireland and other non-Schengen countries, are unaffected by this decision, VisaGuide.World reports.
While last Wednesday, President Trump announcing the entry restrictions for European Union countries part of Schengen Zone, claimed that the import coming from these 26 countries would be banned as well, the White House officials have corrected Trump, claiming the president has been misunderstood.
The White House clarified that the 30 days entry restriction will be applied only for people who have been in Schengen Zone within 14 days of travelling to the US, and that the decision will not apply to goods.
EU Officials and American Experts Criticize the Ban
Officials of the European Union have accused Trump of making decisions “without any consolation” with the EU member countries before announcing the ban.
A European diplomat told BBC that both continents need to cooperate rather than undertaking such moves without prior warning.
“Creemos que debería haber habido cooperación en lugar de acción dirigida a un continente. No estamos muy contentos”, dijo el diplomático.
Trump respondió a estas críticas diciendo que “tenía que moverse rápido”, al tiempo que acusaba a la UE de no tomar las mismas medidas preventivas que EE. UU. en la lucha contra el virus mortal.
Jennifer Nuzzo, epidemióloga de la Universidad Johns Hopkins, también dijo que la prohibición, aunque temporal, podría ser peligrosa en este momento.
“Con al menos 40 estados reportando casos, [muchos] de los cuales se deben a la transmisión local, creo que Estados Unidos debería enfocarse en mitigar los impactos del virus que circula dentro de nuestras fronteras”, agregó Nuzzo.
So far in the US are identified 3,802 persons infected by a coronavirus, while the number of deaths has reached 69. Cases, where the patients are totally recovered from COVID-19 in the US, are 73 while 10 persons are in critical condition.
By now, there have been 173,029 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world, with 6,526 deaths and 77,789 recovered cases.
China remains the most affected country with 80,866 cases, followed by Italy (24,747), Iran (14,991), Spain (8,794), South Korea (8,236) Germany (6,215), France (5,423) and USA(3,802).