Travel ban irony abounds amid US covid-19 spike
CORONAVIRUS infection rates have soared in America this week with US experts fearing, unless action is taken, up to 100,000 people could be infected each day.
At least 12 states have by now suspended or rolled back plans to re-open, hoping the move will slow the further spread of the virus.
Only on Sunday, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar warned the “window is closing” for the country to get the pandemic under control.
There are at least 2,600,000 cases of coronavirus in America, and at least 126,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally.
Last week, as other countries saw a decline, the US recorded its biggest single-day increase in cases with 40,173.
At least 31 states are now seeing an increase in new cases compared to the previous week, according to John Hopkins University.
Only four – Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island – are seeing a fall.
The alarming figures have left American travellers being banned from the European Union for at least another two weeks.
The EU announced on Tuesday it will reopen its borders to visitors from 14 countries, excluding the US because of the recent worrying spike in cases.
The irony should not be lost on anyone.
For a country that is putting “America First” issuing an unprecedented amount of travel bans on visitors, it now finds itself last on the list of invitations from a large part of the world.