Trump Bans Travel from China, Orders 1st Quarantine in 50 Years

President Donald Trump has taken tough steps to protect Americans from the spread of the coronavirus rampaging through China.

In an order issued Friday, federal officials announced that as of 5 p.m. Sunday, “Foreign nationals other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have traveled in China in the last 14 days will be denied entry into United States.”

American citizens returning the U.S. from areas in China where they may have been exposed to the virus will be quarantined, while others coming from the rest of China will be screened for the virus.

Earlier Friday, officials said Americans who evacuated from Wuhan earlier in the week would be quarantined for up to 14 days at March Air Reserve Base in California — the first mandatory quarantine order in the U.S. in 50 years, according to NPR.

As of Saturday, about 250 had died from the virus and about 12,000 infections had been confirmed, according to The New York Times. No deaths have been reported outside of China.

Eight cases of the virus have been confirmed in the United States.

EXCLUSIVE: Fentanyl deaths plunge 22% as Trump White House touts crackdown on deadly drug crisis

Singham-linked nonprofits fight House subpoenas, accuse lawmakers of McCarthy-era ‘witch hunt’

Blue wave depth will be tested in a GOP-friendly Virginia House district

Recalling a political analyst whose insight would have risen above the midterm elections din

Virginia Democrat bought second home outside of her congressional district after promising to relocate

Longest-serving US prisoner dies at 101 after escaping death penalty 8 times

Charter plane crashes near remote radar site in western Alaska, killing all 8 aboard

Video: Teenage Girl Charged with Assault After Attacking Middle School Football Player During Game

Jury awards teens $550K after Oregon amusement park ride left them hanging upside down: report

Fake Hate: School Board Member Created Story About HS Football Coach – Took Years and $350k in Legal Fees for Truth to Surface

Surrogate says baby ‘ripped away’ 60 seconds after birth as custody fight erupts after abortion refusal

Watch: Scott Jennings Goes Nuclear on Democrats ‘Punching Down’ on Top Trump Aide

Vice President JD Vance blasts Mamdani, El-Sayed, AOC and Ossoff in rapid-fire TikTok roast

Lindsay Clancy Blamed ‘A Male Voice’ for Ordering Her to Kill Her Children: Court Testimony

Newspaper Columnist Quits After Editors Kill Story on a Teen Sophie Cunningham Fan Who Thanked Her for ‘Speaking Up for Girls’

The eighth case was reported Saturday in Massachusetts. According to the Boston Herald, the man infected had been in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus. The other cases have been reported in California, Arizona, Washington state and Illinois.

Trump’s actions follow the declaration of a global health emergency over the virus and a State Department warning against travel to China.

“The risk of infection for Americans remains low,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, according to a White House transcript of a briefing.

“And with these and our previous actions, we are working to keep the risk low. All agencies are working aggressively to monitor this continually evolving situation and to keep the public informed in a constantly transparent way,” he said.

During the briefing, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control, said that the coronavirus represents “a serious health situation in China, but I want to emphasize that the risk to the American public currently is low. Our goal is do all we can do to keep it that way.”

In response to the virus, incoming flights from China are limited to seven airports — San Francisco, Los Angeles International Airport, Seattle, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, Atlanta, Honolulu, and O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Delta, United and American have canceled flights to and from China, according to CNBC.

Travel bans have been enacted by other nations, and other airlines have also temporarily stopped service to China.

Research published in “The Lancet” suggested that in Wuhan alone, the city where the virus was first detected, more than 75,000 people may be infected, according to the South China Morning Post.