President Trump’s recent 30-day travel ban on people from Europe was expanded Saturday to the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The UK-Ireland ban will take effect at midnight Eastern time Monday. The ban was in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which had sickened more than 156,000 people worldwide (and rising) and killed 5,800 as of Saturday night.
The White House released a proclamation, which read in part:
The United States Government is unable to effectively evaluate and monitor all of the travelers continuing to arrive from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The potential for undetected transmission of the virus by infected individuals seeking to enter the United States from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland threatens the security of our transportation system and infrastructure and the national security. Given the importance of protecting persons within the United States from the threat of this harmful communicable disease, I have determined that it is in the interests of the United States to take action to restrict and suspend the entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of all aliens who were physically present within the United Kingdom, excluding overseas territories outside of Europe, or the Republic of Ireland during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. The free flow of commerce between the United States and the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland remains an economic priority for the United States, and I remain committed to facilitating trade between our nations.
According to a running total kept by Johns Hopkins University, the United Kingdom has about 1,100 confirmed cases of the virus, with 21 deaths. Ireland has seen 129 cases, with two deaths.
The U.S. totaled more than 2,700 confirmed cases as of Saturday night, with 57 deaths. The number rose by 600 on Saturday alone.
Marian Pavel, CEO of Touch Media who developed the Route 66 Navigation app, has updated his numbers on the ban’s tourism impact:
What the latest ban for travelers from Europe does mean for US tourism?
– US tourism will lose approx. 1.607 million visitors (estimation based on data from April 2019 for overseas tourists from Western and Eastern Europe)
– Los Angeles and Chicago will lose approx. 250,408 visitors (estimation based on data from April 2019 for overseas tourists from Western and Eastern Europe)
– Travelers from banned countries make up 44.42% of all Route 66 visitors
In response to the initial ban’s negative impact on Route 66 tourism, Pavel launched the “Keep Calm and Travel Route 66 (Later)” campaign.
(Image of Route 66 shield in California by Randy Heinitz via Flickr)
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