Coronavirus live news: US bars travel from Brazil as British PM’s adviser reported to police over lockdown breach
Boris Johnson backs Dominic Cummings despite outcry; France sees lowest daily cases and deaths since lockdown; India resumes domestic flights. Follow the latest updates
- US bars travellers who have been in Brazil in last two weeks
- Dominic Cummings facing possible police investigation as pressure mounts
- Johnson’s defence of Cummings sparks anger from allies and opponents
- Australia coronavirus – live
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
A top White House official on Sunday likened China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak to the Soviet Union’s cover-up of the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.
National security adviser Robert O’Brien said Beijing knew what was happening with the virus, which originated in Wuhan, from November but lied to the World Health Organization and prevented outside experts from accessing information.
“They unleashed a virus on the world that’s destroyed trillions of dollars in American economic wealth that we’re having to spend to keep our economy alive, to keep Americans afloat during this virus,” O’Brien said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The cover-up that they did of the virus is going to go down in history, along with Chernobyl. We’ll see an HBO special about it ten or 15 years from now,” he added, referring to a television miniseries.
More on the US travel ban from Brazil:
The White House on Sunday broadened its travel ban against countries hard-hit by the coronavirus by denying admission to foreigners who have been in Brazil during the two-week period before they hoped to enter the US.
President Donald Trump had already banned travel from the United Kingdom, Europe and China. He said last week that he was considering similar restrictions for Brazil.
The ban on travel from Brazil takes effect late Thursday. As with the other bans, it does not apply to legal permanent residents. A spouse, parent or child of a US citizen or legal permanent resident also would be allowed to enter the country.
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