Coronavirus: Trump suspends all flights from Europe to the U.S. Greece records first death
President of the United States announces extraordinary measure to combat the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. All flights between Europe and the United States are suspended for 30 days, except for flights to and from the United Kingdom.
After a day when the United States witnessed the number of cases of infection in the country double, Donald Trump announced that all flights from European Union countries are suspended for the next 30 days, with the exception of the United Kingdom, with effect from Friday at midnight.
The adoption of this measure will serve, according to the American president, to “prevent new cases from entering our borders”.
“After consulting with our top government health professionals,” Trump said, “I have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well-being of all Americans. To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days.”
The new rules will take effect on Friday at midnight. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground.” Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Exceptions will be made for Americans who have “undergone appropriate screenings”, he added without elaborating on what such screenings might entail.
The new measures will apply “to everything that comes from Europe to the United States”, including cargo.
In Italy, the worsening situation led the local Government to quarantine the entire territory, and it seems other countries are adopting more robust preventive measures. Spain and France are another of the European countries most affected, with more than two thousand infected and about 50 deaths in each of the territories.
Greece records first death
Greece today announced the first death caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, following the death of a 66-year-old man with a previous cardiac condition who had been hospitalized in the city of Patras on the Peloponnese peninsula.
According to health officials, the patient was infected during a group trip to Jerusalem in late February, which was attended by 53 other people.
The latest health report released on Wednesday afternoon pointed to 99 infections across Greece.
The Government of conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided on Wednesday to reinforce preventive measures, and, at night, all phones in the country received an alert to recommend that the most vulnerable people stay at home as much as possible and maximize personal hygiene.
At the same time, it was decided to postpone all non-urgent surgical procedures in public hospitals.
The Ministry of Health also announced the immediate hiring of 2,000 professionals for a period of two years.
Since Wednesday, all educational centers have also been closed, and all events with more than 1,000 participants have been suspended.
The pandemic of Covid -19 was detected in December in China, and has caused more than 4,500 deaths worldwide.
The number of infected people has exceeded 124 thousand people, with cases registered in 120 countries and territories.
Italy is the most severe case after China, with more than 12,000 infected and at least 827 dead, which led the Government to decree quarantine across the country.