President Donald Trump appeared Saturday at a hastily called news conference in the White House briefing room with Vice President Mike Pence and top public health officials to announce that the U.S. was banning travel to Iran and urging Americans not to travel to regions of Italy and South Korea where the virus has been prevalent.

The U.S. is expanding travel restrictions, including for Iran and Iranian citizens, and any foreign national who has visited Iran in the past two weeks, said Pence, who heads Trump’s coronavirus task force. The task force met Saturday and brought the president a range of options, Pence said; the new travel restrictions and advisory were the result.

Trump said on Friday he was considering expanded travel restrictions for a few countries, beyond those imposed a month ago on China. Italy’s confirmed coronavirus infections topped 1,000 on Saturday, while China’s Xi Jinping scrapped a rare trip to Japan.

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Trump said he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus’ spread, but later added: “This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now.”

"We're thinking about all borders," he said.

Travel to Iran is already quite limited, though some families are allowed to travel there on a visa. It is one of the seven initial countries on Trump's travel ban list, which means travel from Iran also is already severely restricted.

Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was “no evidence of link to travel” abroad in the case of the person who died in Washington state, the first U.S. death from the virus.

The Washington case was the first death in U.S. but not first American to die: A 60-year-old U.S. citizen died in Wuhan in early February.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the travel restrictions as of Feb. 29, 2020, are:

China and Iran: U.S. travelers should avoid all nonessential travel to these destinations. Entry of foreign nationals from these destinations has been suspended.

South Korea and Italy: CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel.

Japan: CDC recommends that older adults or those who have chronic medical conditions consider postponing travel.

Hong Kong: Travelers should practice usual precautions.

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