The United States Department has advised American citizens living abroad to make arrangements and get home quickly before the Coronavirus pandemic goes out of hand.
In its travel advisory, the US States department warned the Americans against non-essential travelling lest they get locked out of their country for an unknown period due to the coronavirus.
Americans in countries where commercial departure options are still available are urged to arrange for an immediate return to the US or risk staying away over an indefinite period.
“Many countries are experiencing Covid-19 outbreaks and implementing travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines, closing borders and prohibiting non-citizens from the entry with little advanced notice,” the US notice said.
“Airlines have cancelled many international flights and several cruise operators have suspended operations or cancelled trips,” US added.
“If you choose to travel internationally, your travel plans may be severely disrupted and you may be forced to remain outside of the United States for an indefinite timeframe.”
The US Travel advisory branded Level 4, was earlier applied to some countries including North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Yemen but since the virus outbreak, the advisory extended to China and Mongolia and other regions within certain countries.
The US also announced that it had suspended Visa services in a number of countries thus citizens will have to look for other alternatives in case they wanted to travel back to the US.
The advisory by the US department should not only apply to American citizens since the Coronavirus outbreak has affected the whole world.
Countries that have not yet reported cases of the virus are forced to close their borders to prevent their citizens from contracting the virus.
Most countries have advised their citizens to return back before they make the decision of shutting down borders while at the same time suspending foreign trips and flights in and out of the countries.
Globally, over 200,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus with over 8,000 people reported dead. New infections, as well as deaths, are being reported daily.
Intriguingly, China which is the epicenter of the Covid-19 has not reported any new case in the last 24 hours while the total number of cases reported outside the country surge daily, surpassing those recorded inside the country.
Medical practitioners in Wuhan China, attribute the low cases reported in the country to elaborate measures put in place which include social-distancing and frequent washing of hands. Face masks are not as effective as most people think.
In the meantime, out of the 200,000 people infected, the number of people who have recovered from the infection is relatively high, surpassing 80,000 globally.