6/29/2020 Trump: US could close borders to guard against coronavirus

Trump: US could close borders

to guard against coronavirus

By: Mark Saunders
Posted at 12:11 PM, Feb 29, 2020 and last updated 2:10 PM, Feb 29, 2020

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday the United
States may close its border crossings to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Speaking from the White House, the President said his administration was "thinking
about" possibly closing the country's borders to guard against the spread of COVID-19.

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6/29/2020 Trump: US could close borders to guard against coronavirus

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"We have ports of entry that we are keeping open. And we're not talking about it, we're
thinking about all borders," President Trump said Saturday, when asked of the
country's border with Mexico. "But right now that's not a border as it pertains to what
we're talking about here. This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right
now. We hope we won't have to do that."

The President said the U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak in
that country, and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea, adding
that more U.S. cases are “likely.” So far there are about 60 confirmed cases of COVID-
19 in the U.S.

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Canada is currently dealing with 16 coronavirus cases: eight in Ontario, seven in

British Columbia, and one in Quebec. As of Saturday, Canada says the country has
tested for 498 possible cases.
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6/29/2020 Trump: US could close borders to guard against coronavirus

Canadian officials, like the U.S., say the risk to the country's residents is low.

Mexico currently has four cases of the virus, as of Saturday. Two patients in Mexico
are located in Mexico City and one in the northwestern state of Sinaloa. The fourth
patient was reported in the city of Torreon in the state of Coahuila: a 20-year-old
woman who had recently traveled to Italy.

This week, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the COVID-19 virus
"isn’t even equivalent to flu," adding, "“I repeat, according to the available
information, it is not something terrible, fatal ... There shouldn’t be any yellow
journalism, or exaggerations, to cause a mass psychosis of fear, of terror," the AP
reported.

Saturday, the U.S. reported the first death in the country due to the virus in
Washington state. State health officials described the victim as a man in his 50s who
had underlying medical conditions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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