German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Tuesday that the European Union will be closing its external borders and establishing a 30-day entry ban to combat the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
Merkel revealed that EU member states had “agreed to impose an entry ban” that provides travel exemptions to nationals of European Free Trade Association countries and Britain, according to the Telegraph.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed during a March 17 news conference that it will be the responsibility of bloc leaders to establish their countries’ border closures.
Von der Leyen noted that while the UK has not imposed its own external border restrictions, it has advised people against traveling abroad.
As of this article’s publication, there have been nearly 196,000 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with a total of 7,866 reported deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Of those associated deaths, 2,503 have been reported from Italy, and another 509 individuals have died from the contagious disease in Spain.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
