US declares public health ‘emergency’
>>WASHINGTON: The US said on Friday it was declaring a public health emergency and temporarily banning the entry of foreign nationals who had travelled to China over the past two weeks to contain the spread of a deadly new virus.
Sweeping new restrictions will also be imposed on American citizens, with those returning from the province at the disease’s epicentre placed in facilities for mandatory 14-day quarantines, said Health Secretary Alex Azar.
US citizens coming from other parts of China will undergo health screening at ports of entry and then be placed under monitored self-quarantine at home.
“I have today declared that the coronavirus presents a public health emergency in the United States,” said Mr Azar during a briefing at the White House, adding the directives would take effect on Feb 2 from 5pm eastern time.
“Foreign nationals, other than immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents, who have travelled in China within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the United States for this time,” he added.
The restrictions apply to people who have travelled to the designated areas in the two weeks prior to their attempted entry.
There have been seven confirmed US cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, which originated in a live seafood market in Wuhan, in Hubei province, in December.
The World Health Organisation has already declared the epidemic a global emergency, and the Chinese death toll has risen to 259 while total infections reached nearly 12,000, surpassing the Sars epidemic of two decades ago.
Three US airlines, American, Delta and United said they would soon suspend all flights to China.
Earlier, officials imposed mandatory 14-day quarantine orders on 195 Americans who were air evacuated from Wuhan, the first time a federal directive of this kind was issued for more than 50 years.