Coronavirus: Trump suspends travel from most of EU to US

The US suspended travel from most of the European Union for 30 days to deal with the spread of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump said in a surprise announcement.

The UK and Ireland were exempted from the restrictions, start on Friday, as were US citizens. They apply to most foreign nationals who have been in the 26 countries of the Schengen border-free travel area during the 14 days before their planned arrival in the US.

However, the move was criticised by market analysts as travel sector shares slumped in early Thursday trade, with one saying Trump was "in denial" about the challenges posed to the US by the pandemic.

"If President Trump’s speech from the Oval office last night was intended to reassure markets that the US administration was on the ball when it comes to dealing with COVID-19 in the US it missed the mark by a mile," said CMC Markets analysts Michael Hewson.

"It would appear that measures to combat the spread of the virus are running into partisan battles within the US Congress, an unforgivable state of affairs at such a critical time for not only the global economy, but also the US economy. While the world is looking for leadership from the US, their politicians appear to be fighting like rats in a sack."

Trump referred to the pandemic as a “foreign virus”, claiming the EU had failed to act swiftly and the US outbreaks had been "seeded" by travellers from Europe. So far 37 people have died in America with more than 1,000 reported cases.

“We made a lifesaving move with early action on China,” he said. “Now we must take the same action with Europe,” he said in a televised address on Wednesday night. “This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.”

“This is not a financial crisis, this is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome as a nation and as a world,” he said, adding that the government would provide relief to affected workers.

The president said he would ask Congress to approve $50bn in loans for small business loans, and demanded immediate payroll tax cuts.

Ayush Ansal, chief investment officer at Crimson Black Capital called the ban "a major over-reaction from President Trump and economies and markets globally will pay the price".

“Unsurprisingly, the FTSE 100 fell sharply on Thursday’s open and further falls are inevitable if any significant steps are announced following the emergency (UK) Cobra meeting."

“Coupled with the World Health Organisation’s declaration that the Covid-19 outbreak is a pandemic, the European travel ban has created a perfect storm for markets. The global economic fallout from current events could continue for months if not years.”