The UK has been excluded from a transatlantic travel ban from 26 European countries announced last night by US president Donald Trump to battle the spread of coronavirus.
The travel restrictions will apply from midnight on Friday for 30 days, cutting into the Easter weekend.
Guidance issued from the Department of Homeland Security clarified that the ban applied only to foreign nationals and not to US citizens or their family members.
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Coronavirus travel ban applies to Schengen zone
It does not apply to all of Europe but to countries in the Schengen zone: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The US Travel Association estimated that 850,000 international visitors flew from Europe, excluding the UK, to the US in March last year, accounting for about 29% of total overseas arrivals and spending $3.4 billion.
Chief executive Roger Dow warned: “Temporarily shutting off travel from Europe is going to exacerbate the already-heavy impact of coronavirus on the travel industry and the 15.7 million Americans whose jobs depend on travel.
“We have and will continue to engage Congress and the administration on policy steps that are necessary to ensure that travel employers – 83% of which are small businesses – can keep the lights on for their employees.”
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “The US travel ban means travellers from the UK on connecting flights via Amsterdam, Paris and other popular European hubs will also be denied entry.
“It’s vital that airlines provide clear information and support to passengers due to travel and those already in the US – and that they offer options such as refunds, re-routing or rebooking if flights are cancelled.
“To avoid a repeat of the situation that left travellers stuck in Italy, affected airlines should not be flying passengers out to the US ahead of the ban if they will be left stranded once the restriction comes into force on Friday.”
Department of Homeland Security acting secretary Chad Wolf later clarified the clampdown, which he described as a “tough but necessary decision”.
Wolf said: “The actions president Trump is taking to deny entry to foreign nationals who have been in affected areas will keep Americans safe and save American lives.
“While these new travel restrictions will be disruptive to some travellers, this decisive action is needed to protect the American public from further exposure to the potentially deadly coronavirus.
“In January and February, the Administration issued similar travel restrictions on individuals who had been in China and Iran.
“That action proved to be effective in slowing the spread of the virus to the US, while public health officials prepared.
“In the next 48 hours, in the interest of public health, I intend to issue a supplemental Notice of Arrivals Restriction requiring US passengers that have been in the Schengen Area to travel through select airports where the US government has implemented enhanced screening procedures.”
The presidential proclamation, made in a prime time TV address from the White House, suspends the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the US.
Trump: ‘America first’
Trump said: “We have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.
“The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travellers from Europe.”
Trump said the halt on travel from Europe would not include the UK.
He added: “We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus.
“We made a life-saving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe.
“We will not delay. I will never hesitate to take any necessary steps to protect the lives, health and safety of the American people. I will always put the well-being of America first.”