The State Department will soon warn Americans not to travel abroad at all, as officials planned to issue the strongest U.S. alert yet as novel coronavirus continued its steady march across the globe, according to Politico and the New York Times.
The department will issue a Level 4 advisory for travel abroad — “do not travel” — only four days after it issued a Level 3 advisory — “reconsider travel.”
The advisory is set to be announced as the number of cases have multiplied: More than 10,000 in the United States out of nearly 230,000 worldwide. The global death toll also neared 10,000 on Thursday, including 154 in the United States.
A State Department official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the agency could not provide an estimate of how many Americans are trying to get back to the U.S. from overseas amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The official said the State Department is considering all options to assist U.S. citizens, and that it is continuously assessing travel conditions in all areas affected by COVID-19.
Contributing: Deidre Shesgreen and Morgan Hines, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: State Department will warn Americans not to travel abroad
