
AUSTIN, Texas — The federal government is banning all travel to the United States for medical professionals and medical students, according to a federal health official.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said it was temporarily restricting travel to people who are or had been licensed to practice medicine or surgery in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines.
The announcement was made to members of Congress.
The ban includes students, employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and residents of the United Nations.
The CDC said the move is in response to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 8,000 people and caused an estimated $2.4 trillion in economic losses.
“It is critical to understand that these new restrictions are not necessary,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement.
“There is no evidence that these restrictions will have any effect on the spread of the virus or the spread and costs of pandemic-related illness.”
The new restrictions include all licensed U.K. and Canadian doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and pharmacists and all U.N. and U.E. residents.
They also exclude all foreign medical professionals from the United states.
The new travel restrictions were issued to U.J.S., U.A.E., United Arab Emirate, United Arab Republic, and Philippines residents.
It’s not clear why the U-turn was made, but the UJ. has said that it was prompted by the emergence of the coronavalavirus and the coronapillavirus outbreak in the U., a country that is hosting the upcoming Commonwealth Games and has been one of the top coronaviruses countries.
The United Arab countries are not considered “high-risk” yet because they have not seen an outbreak of the pandemic.
The U.U. and Philippines have had similar bans in recent years.
The U.P.
E has also been restricting its citizens from flying to the U .
S. for business purposes since mid-November.
The airline says it is notifying passengers that the ban will apply to their trip.