President Donald Trump Announced new coronavirus related travel restrictions on Saturday, yet he continues to downplay the deadly virus.
The travel alert is raised to Level Four – the highest level – which means travelers are strongly dissuaded to go to specific countries.
These countries are Italy, South Korea and Iran, wherein direct travel ban to the latter is implemented under previous sanctions rules.
In the new travel restriction, any foreign national who visited Iran in the previous 14 days is banned entry to the United States.
The U.S. State Department will also issue a “do not travel” advisory for Italian and South Korean cities heavily affected by the virus.
They are also working with the said countries to come up with screening protocols for those who wish to travel to the United States.
In the press conference held at the White House, he said, “We moved very early, and it turned out to be a lifesaver.”
However, he continued by saying that the virus will not likely to infect Americans, and those who do will recover from the illness quickly.
“So healthy people, if you’re healthy, you’ll probably go through a process and you’ll be fine,” he said.
The President’s assurance contradicts the assessment of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ renowned expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The doctor said that around 75% to 80% of those infected would suffer cold or flu-like symptoms and recover.
For the remainder would likely require hospitalization and may “need advanced medical care.”
According to Trump, other restrictions are also being considered, hinting on the Mexican border.
While he said, “We are looking also at the southern border,” he also contradicted this by saying that there might not be a need to impose such travel restriction.
While the president acknowledges the death of a patient from the Washington state, he consistently downplayed the disease and praised himself about the great job he has done in handling the outbreak.