Trump administration announces mandatory quarantines in response to coronavirus

The Trump administration on Friday dramatically escalated its response to the fast-spreading coronavirus epidemic by announcing quarantines and major travel restrictions that officials said were meant to limit contagion.The measures, which could affect thousands of people around the world, represented a marked expansion of the federal government’s response after initially downplaying potential risks.The White House declared a “public health emergency” and — beginning on Sunday at 5 p.m. While many foreign nationals who visited China within 14 days will be banned from entering the United States, officials said those who are family members of U.S. citizens will be allowed to enter subject to new screening guidelines.Not long before the new policies were announced, U.S. health officials on Friday extended a quarantine for 195 evacuees who arrived from Wuhan this week at a military base in California. On Wednesday, he tweeted photos of his Situation Room briefing and said his administration was working closely with China to contain the outbreak.But even before U.S. officials announced such a drastic escalation in travel restrictions on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the United States for making “unfriendly comments” during the coronavirus outbreak and said a U.S. warning against travel to China went against recommendations made by the World Health Organization to not restrict travel or trade. “NO VISAS FROM EBOLA STRICKEN COUNTRIES.” And in still another tweet, he falsely claimed that the virus spread more easily than CDC scientists said.Jeff Stein contributed to this reportFollow our updates: The World Health Organization declared coronavirus outbreak a ‘public health emergency and the State Department heightened its travel advisory for China to Level 4: Do Not Travel due to the virus outbreak.Federal health officials confirmed a sixth U.S. case of the Wuhan coronavirus Thursday.