U.S. Government Imposes Travel Restrictions over Coronavirus Outbreak

Posted on 01/31/2020


The U.S. government declared the Wuhan coronavirus a public health emergency in the United States. The government disclosed that certain foreign nationals deemed to pose a risk of transmitting the disease will temporarily be denied entry the United States. In addition, some returning U.S. citizens potentially at risk will be quarantined. Wuhan is the epicenter of the virus. Russia and Singapore have already closed borders or entry from China.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar disclosed that U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order for the U.S. to deny entry to foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the past two weeks, aside from the immediate family of U.S. citizens.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes the risk is low at this time, but are taking incremental steps to prevent an outbreak.

Hedge Fund

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, issued a January 30, 2020 post on Linkedin, Our Early Thinking on the Coronavirus and Pandemics.

Dalio says, “Regarding diversification to protect us against the unknowns, the outbreak of the coronavirus and its effect on markets highlight its importance. China’s stock market is down nearly 10% since the virus took off. Terrible, unimaginable things could happen anywhere. What we don’t know is much greater than what we do know. When you don’t know, the best investment strategy is to be smartly diversified across geographic locations, across asset classes, and across currencies.”

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