Travel bans, market collapse: Dizzying reaction to outbreak
U.S. health official admits country is ‘failing’ in testing for coronavirus
ROME—Sweeping travel bans cascaded around the globe Thursday, walling off countries and even entire continents, keeping people inside their homes and slowing the engines of commerce to stem the coronavirus pandemic. Markets collapsed with the growing realization that there would be no fast end to the uncertainty.
After weeks downplaying the virus, U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of strict rules barring most Europeans from entry came as a shock across the Atlantic. But within hours, even the European Union’s passport-free travel came into question, with guards in places that had been without borders for more than a decade and airports shut down.
The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, said the vast majority of new cases of the COVID-19 illness are linked to Europe, which he called “the new China.” Deaths in Italy topped 1,000, with more than 15,000 testing positive.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged that the U.S. was lagging other countries in testing for the virus to learn how widespread it really is.
“It is a failing, let’s admit it,” he told lawmakers.
The EU quickly slammed Trump’s “unilateral” decision, declaring the virus a “global crisis, not limited to any continent, and it requires co-operation.”
The virus detected three months ago in China has produced crippling outbreaks in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, ignited global financial panic and in the past week has seen dizzying developments erupt by the hour. European soccer leagues, North American basketball and baseball games, school terms for millions of students, weddings, baptisms, funerals, nightlife, culture high and low — all fell by the wayside with a swiftness that was becoming increasingly difficult to grasp.
Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country was spared the U.S. travel ban, called the pandemic “the worst public health crisis for a generation” and said “many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.”
But amid the fears, it’s often easy to forget that tens of people have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Most patients have only mild or moderate symptoms, such as a fever or cold, though symptoms can be severe, including pneumonia, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems.
On Thursday, the Brazilian president’s communications director tested positive just days after travelling to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump, though, has no immediate plans to be tested or go into self-quarantine, the White House said. “Both the President and Vice-President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement Thursday.