The President announced yesterday that the 30-day European travel ban implemented at midnight Friday would soon be expanded to the include the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Reuters first reported the likely move from the White House, and Trump confirmed the news at a press briefing Saturday.
Asked about the Reuters report, Trump said “We’re looking at it very seriously, yeah, because they’ve had a little bit of activity, unfortunately, so we’re going to be looking at that– We actually already have looked at it, and that is going to be announced.”
The White House faced criticism for not initially including the United Kingdom in its travel ban, due to the high number of confirmed cases in the country. On Saturday, there were more than 1,100 confirmed cases in the country, and 90 confirmed cases in Ireland.
Vice President Mike Pence said later in the press conference that the U.K. and Ireland suspension would begin on Monday at midnight Eastern Time.
“All of our health experts presented information,” Pence said, “and made a unanimous recommendation to the President that we suspend all travel from the U.K. and Ireland.”
Americans and legal residents in those countries, as is the case with the larger European travel suspension, can still come back to the United States, Pence confirmed.
