Trump suspends travel from Europe to US due to coronavirus

US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping new travel restrictions on Europe in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

A presidential proclamation issued later specified that only travellers from the 26 countries in the Schengen border-free travel area were barred.

This leaves a number of other European countries as well as the UK unaffected.

"To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe," Mr Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening.

“The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight," he added. The travel order does not apply to US citizens.

Mr Trump said the European Union had "failed to take the same precautions" as the US in fighting the virus.

There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths so far.