Trump’s US travel ban: What does it mean for European travellers and why is the UK exempt?
US President Donald Trump has overnight imposed a travel ban for foreign nationals who had been in the Schengen Area of Europe 14 days prior to travelling to the US.
The ban is a direct reaction to the continuing spread of coronavirus, the flu-like respiratory disease that was, yesterday, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation .
Trump addressed the US just hours after the pandemic was declared, as 1,136 cases have been confirmed in the States with 38 resulting deaths.
Here, we take a look at what the ban entails and why the UK is exempt from Trump's travel restrictions.
What is Trump’s US travel ban?
Donald Trump spoke to the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening, and said he would a ban on all foreign travellers from entering the US who had been in the Schengen Area of Europe 14 days prior. These travel restrictions would not apply to those who had been in UK, he clarified, and would begin on Friday at midnight, March 13 and last for 30 days.
In his statement, Trump said: “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.”
He continued: “We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe.”
The ban applies for all foreign nationals travelling from the prohibited areas, but it doesn’t apply to European nationals already living in the US – only if they visit Europe and return to the US during the ban. Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton says: "The recently-announced USA travel ban allows US citizens in Europe to return home, but prohibits non-US citizens coming from the Schengen zone to enter the country."
Tom Bourlet, travel expert at Spaghetti Traveller says of Trump's statement: "I see this as reactionary. He [Trump] was blamed for being slow to react to the global virus, with an incredibly low number of tests being made, which should be their priority."
What is the Schengen Area and which European countries are included in the ban?
The countries included in the ban include the 26 countries of the Schengen Area:
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portuga
lSlovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The restrictions apply to foreign nationals who have visited or been in one of these countries for 14 days before their planned arrival in the US.
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