The Trump administration, while insisting the risk to Americans from coronavirus is low, nevertheless declared a public health emergency on Friday and announced the extraordinary step of barring entry to the
United States of foreign nationals who have traveled to China.
![U.S. declares coronavirus public health emergency after imposing quarantines](https://media.zenfs.com/en-US/reuters.com/05838446632476d829c43c369dd16a42)
In addition, starting on Sunday U.S. citizens who have traveled within the past two weeks to China's Hubei Province - epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic - will be subject to a mandatory quarantine of 14 days: the incubation period of the virus, officials said.
The emergency measures were unveiled by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar at a
White House briefing, shortly before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health authorities announced a seventh U.S. coronavirus case had been confirmed in Northern California.