US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping travel restrictions on 26 European countries in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The ban applies to travellers from countries which are members of the Schengen border-free travel area.
The UK, Ireland and other non-Schengen countries are unaffected. US citizens are also exempt.
The European Union (EU) condemned the measures, which it said were taken “unilaterally and without consultation”.
The new rules go into effect on Friday at midnight EDT (0400 GMT) and mark a major escalation from the US president, who has been accused of inaction over the coronavirus.
There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths so far.
Shares around the world fell further following Mr Trump’s announcement. At the start of US trading, shares plunged triggering an automatic temporary suspension in trading aimed at curbing panicky selling.
“This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history,” he said in a prime-time televised address from the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Justifying the travel restrictions, he accused the EU of failing to take “the same precautions” as the US in fighting the virus.
In his speech he said all travel from Europe would be suspended, but a presidential proclamation later said it would only apply to anyone who had been in the EU’s Schengen border-free area in the 14 days before their arrival in the US.
Mr Trump also said the suspension would also apply to cargo coming from Europe into the US. He later tweeted to say that trade would “in no way be affected”.
The speech included plans to provide billions of dollars in loans to small businesses and the president urged Congress to free up more funds.
President Trump said for most Americans the risk was “very, very low” adding, “no nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States”.
In its response the EU said the coronavirus was “a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action”.
“The EU disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel said in a statement. -BBC
