Published 10:47 IST, January 31st 2020
US raises travel advisory over Coronavirus; asks citizens to not travel to China
US Secy of State Mike Pompeo announced the decision on Thursday evening as the death toll of the coronavirus increased & WHO declared a Global Health Emergency
The US State Department has raised the travel advisory to Level 4 and asked its citizens to not travel to China. The development took place hours after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Coronavirus a global health emergency. The Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement on Thursday evening.
US raises advisory
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted the decision.
The notification read, "Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. On January 30, the World Health Organization has determined the rapidly spreading outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. Commercial carriers have reduced or suspended routes to and from China."
The notification further read, "Those currently in China should consider departing using commercial means. The Department of State has requested that all non-essential U.S. government personnel defer travel to China in light of the novel coronavirus."
The Director-General of WHO, on Thursday, said, "The vast majority of cases outside China have a travel history to Wuhan, or contact with someone with a travel history to Wuhan. We don’t know what sort of damage this 2019nCoV virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system. We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility. For all of these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of 2019nCoV."
Trump forms taskforce
The development takes parallelly to the US President Donald Trump on Thursday forming a task force to tackle the spread of the Coronavirus which has claimed the lives of 200 people. Led by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, the task force is coordinated through the National Security Council, as informed by the White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.
The Coronavirus task force includes subject matter experts from the White House, along with several US government agencies, and involves leading experts on infectious diseases in the US. Members of the task force have been holding meetings on a daily basis since Monday.
(With inputs from Agencies)
Updated 10:47 IST, January 31st 2020