President Trump announced tonight that to fight the Chinese coronavirus, he would ban travel from Europe for the next 30 days, starting this Friday. Great Britain was not included in the ban. These restrictions are already in effect for China, Japan and South Korea.
Trump noted that while his early travel bans on China prevented large scale incursion of the virus into the U.S., pockets of virus outbreak have been caused by travelers from Europe.
Additionally, President Trump said that he is exploring ways to mitigate the damage from public reaction to the virus. He is asking Congress to consider an immediate payroll relief measure and will ask the Small Business Administration to make low business loans to small businesses negatively affected.
In the meantime, public events are being canceled left and right. The NBA announced the rest of its season would be postponed after a player was found to have the Chinese coronavirus. San Francisco and Washington State have banned public gatherings over 250 people.
It has been clear that Trump’s early measure to restrict travel from China has saved many lives, and he has extended that caution according to the advice from the Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. Quick reactions to contain outbreaks have limited infection, however the virus is expected to continue to spread.
Coronavirus is comparable to the flu but has some key differences. One commentator noted that the disease has not killed anyone under the age of 30. While a person with the flu is expected to infect 1.3 people on average, a person with the coronavirus is expected to infect more than 2 people. The death of the coronavirus is approximately 10 times the death rate of the flu.
A vaccine for the virus is expected in about a year.