Trump downplays coronavirus impact in America, says intense action and travel restrictions led to fewer cases

Seeking to explain to Americans how his administration is controlling the rapidly increasing spread of the novel coronavirus across the United States, President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening (local time) stated that an early and intense action has led to fewer cases of the virus in the country than that are now present in Europe.

"Our team is the best anywhere in the world. At the very start of the outbreak, we instituted sweeping travel restrictions on China and put in place the first federally mandated quarantine in over 50 years," Trump said while addressing the nation from the Oval Office.

"We declared a public health emergency and issued the highest level of travel warnings on other countries as the virus spread its horrible infection. And taking early and intense action we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the US than that are now present in Europe," he added.

Taking further measures to contain the spread of the virus, the President noted that all travels from Europe to the United States will remain suspended for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect from Friday midnight. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground.

"There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings, and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing. These restrictions will also not apply to the United Kingdom," he said.

Trump, at the same time, also said that his administration is continuously monitoring the situation in China and in South Korea. And, as their situation improves, the US will re-evaluate the restrictions and warnings that are currently in place for a possible early opening.

Additionally, last week, Trump noted that he had signed into law an USD 8.3 billion funding bill to help CDC and other government agencies fight the virus and support vaccines, treatments, and distribution of medical supplies. "Testing and testing capabilities are expanding rapidly, day by day. We are moving very quickly," he stressed.

The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hotspots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the US were seeded by travelers from Europe, the President said.

"I am confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures, we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens, and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus," Trump told his citizens from the office.

The World Health Organization has also officially announced the viral infection to be a global pandemic. There are 118,000 cases, more than 4,000 deaths, the agency said, and the virus has found a foothold on every continent except for Antarctica.