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UK Dissuades People From Non-Essential Travel to US

The United States banned entry to people from 26 European countries this week in a bid to contain the epidemic. Vice President Mike Pence said restrictions will also be imposed on flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland, starting Monday.
Sputnik

The United Kingdom has dissuaded people from all but essential travel to the United States due to Washington's recent restrictions on travellers from countries with a high level of coronavirus cases starting at 3:59 GMT on 17 March.

The statement comes after US President Donald Trump made a decision to suspend all travel from the United Kingdom and Ireland starting next week. According to US Homeland Security’s Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, foreigners who have been to Ireland or the UK in the past two weeks will be barred from entering the US.

Earlier in the day, the UK Foreign Office recommended its citizens to refrain from travelling to Spain after Madrid declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19.

UK Could Face Economic Woes as Consumer Buying May Drop Amid Panic Over Coronavirus - Report
On 13 March, the UK government announced the cancellation of local and mayoral elections, scheduled to take place in May, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As of 15 March, the Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed 1,140 cases of COVID-19 in the UK. A total of 21 people have died after contracting the disease in the country.

On 13 March, the World Health Organisation declared that the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic has now moved from China, where new cases have drastically decreased, to Europe, where most nations are seeing a climb in infections and fatalities.

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