For once, the conversation over closing the US-Mexico border is being driven b Mexican health officials who say they are considering shutting out Americans to keep coronavirus out of their country.

There are currently more than 2,000 cases of the virus in the US and it is spreading rapidly. Forty-three people have died from it.

By contrast in Mexico, there have only been 16 confirmed cases and no deaths.

At a press conference on Friday, health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said: 'Mexico wouldn't bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here.

'The possible flow of coronavirus would come from the north to the south.

'If it were technically necessary, we would consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance,' he said.

Health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said: 'Mexico wouldn't bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here.

There are now 1,930 cases of coronavirus in the US and 42 people have died

Trump has said little on the subject of coronavirus in Mexico.

Unlike several Latin American countries, Mexico has yet to take measures such as closing schools or banning entry to people coming from places with high numbers of coronavirus cases.

However, the private Tecnologico de Monterrey university said on Thursday it would suspend academic and classes from next week until further notice, while Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) said it would tighten preventative measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

On Friday, Trump tweeted: 'To this point, and because we have had a very strong border policy, we have had 40 deaths related to CoronaVirus.

'If we had weak or open borders, that number would be many times higher!'

Both he and Vice President Mike Pence have blamed the spread of the virus first on China, then on Europe which they now believe is the 'epicenter' of the outbreak.

Trump has suspended all travel from Europe to the US on Friday night at midnight.

On Thursday, he said Americans who were overseas would be tested before they got on their planes and that they would not be allowed to board them if they tested positive for the virus.

Trump tweeted on Friday that his strong stance on borders had stifled the virus somewhat

President Donald Trump shaking hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night; Bolsonaro's condition remains unknown - there are reports that he has tested positive and negative for coronavirus

Mike Pence said earlier in the day that any American would be able to come back 'regardless' of their condition.

He said they would be funneled through one of 13 airports once they landed back in the US and that they would be screened.

There have however been mixed reports on the extent to which people are being screened, questioned and tested when they arrive back in the US.

Some say they have been able to saunter through customs and have only been asked if they have flu symptoms.

The president will answer questions at the 3 p.m. presser as the House prepares to vote on a coronavirus package, the stock market tries to recover from its worst day since the 1987 economic recession, and schools across the country have closed out of fears of spreading the virus.

Nearly 2,000 people have contracted the virus in the US. Above, a patient is put in an ambulance at a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington

He will likely be peppered with questions about his health, whether he should be tested, and why he hasn't into voluntary self-quarantine, despite CDC guidelines describing someone in his situation as 'medium risk' for infection.

The president announced the press conference after reports out of Brazil said the Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus. One of the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, Journal O Dia, noted The Guardian's Tom Phillips, reported the news of Bolsonaro's positive test.

Bolsonaro, 64, was checked for the disease after his aide Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for it.

But a second test that came back on Friday showed the president tested negative, according to a statement on Bolsonaro's official Facebook page, which is adding to the questions and confusion.