The United States has announced on Wednesday night that it is restricting passenger travel from 26 European nations. Donal Trump announced the restriction saying the month-long travel restriction will take effect from late Friday.
The president blamed Europe for not taking enough preventive measures and not acting quick enough to restrict the “foreign virus”. He even claimed that U.S clusters were “seeded” by European travelers. “We made a lifesaving move with early action on China,” Trump said. “Now we must take the same action with Europe.”
Trump said the restriction will not apply to the United Kingdom and “Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings” will be exempted. The situation will be monitored to see if the travel ban can be lifted earlier, said Trump.
Following President Trump’s suit, the State Department issued an advisory asking U.S citizens to “reconsider travel abroad” as the virus is at large and many people all over the world are being quarantined. Boston’s Logan International airport saw one family deboarding a flight to Europe as the President was making his announcement about European travel.
“We are evaluating what the announcement of travel restrictions from Europe means for Boston Logan International Airport,” Massport said. “We are working closely with our federal and airline partners to understand the implications and we will share more information as it becomes available.”
Commercial air travel to and from Europe accounts for 4.6% of the total commercial air traffic in Boston, according to the airport traffic data analyzed by investigators. Boston in 2019 saw a total of 19,004 commercial airlines to and from Europe, making up for 4.27 million passengers.
