Donald Trump mulls travel ban on Italy, South Korea as coronavirus cases rise

US President Donald Trump said that the scope of travel restrictions could be expanded to Italy and South Korea over coronavirus fears. The United States has already banned foreign nationals travelling from China within the past two weeks and South Korea and Italy could also face travel restrictions with the rising number of cases. While South Korea has reported around 1,600 cases of coronavirus, around 400 infected people in Italy have been identified.

“At the right time we may do it, right now it's not the right time,” said Trump on the question of travel ban on South Korea and Italy.

“Italy is, you know, a deeper problem, and we're checking people coming in very, very strongly from those and at some point we may cut that off," Trump added.

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Optimistic Trump

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump exuded confidence and optimism to contain the deadly virus in the United States, adding that the situation worsening in the country is not “inevitable”. However, Trump’s optimism was contradicted by a senior health official confirming that they have identified a new case of coronavirus. Dr Anne Schuchat of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accepted that they do expect more cases. 

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CDC, in a statement, said that the patient’s exposure is unknown and there is a possibility of the latest case being the first instance of community spread, where the source of infection is unknown, of COVID-19. “It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveller who was infected,” the statement read.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that his administration has been handling the threat of coronavirus in an effective manner and even applauded them for doing a “great job”. At a White House news conference on February 27, Trump assured that there’s no need to panicked.

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(With PTI inputs)