WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — U.S. Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to the Trump administration this week requesting a ban on air travel between the United States and China due to the recent activity of coronavirus.
This request is a followup from a Jan. 22 letter that urged preparations in anticipation of the spread of the virus.
Senator Cotton sent the letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf.
In the letter, the state senator calls for the Trump administration to utilize five steps to "protect" America from the Wuhan coronavirus.
He wants to allow "American citizens in China to evacuate under appropriate monitoring" as well as critical trade to continue. He is also recommending scientists and medical personnel be allowed to travel to and from China.
Cotton also recommends marshaling "the full resources of the federal government to engineer a vaccine."
The Wuhan coronavirus that has been found to have originated in Wuhan, China, can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia.
It is a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the deadly SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past, health officials say.
So far, the U.S. has confirmed five cases but are "investigating" over 100 other people with similar symptoms.
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