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State Department Urges Americans: Don’t Travel Abroad

Americans are being urged to reconsider all overseas travel following Trump’s ban on visitors from the European Union.

The U.S. State Department issued an extraordinary warning to Americans late Wednesday that they should “reconsider” any plans they have to travel anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, also late Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Europe. The travel advisories came shortly after President Donald Trump announced on national television that travel to the U.S. from Europe will be temporarily banned. The State Department’s advice to reconsider travel is one level below its strongest warning, while the CDC’s advice to “avoid nonessential travel” to Europe is its highest possible warning. Trump’s proclamation exempts the U.K., which is not part of Europe’s passport-free Schengen Area, but the CDC warning covers there as well. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said “this decisive action is needed to protect the American public from further exposure to the potentially deadly coronavirus.”