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The curbs take effect at midnight on Saturday but will not affect trade, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Meanwhile, Illinois joined California in ordering residents to stay at home, while New York state ordered non-essential businesses to close.

About one in five Americans will soon be under a “stay at home” order.

The virus has claimed nearly 230 lives in the US and infected more than 18,500 people.

Globally more than 270,000 patients have tested positive for the respiratory illness and more than 11,000 have died.

As both the number of cases and the global death toll continued to soar, many countries and regions took new measures on Friday, including:

• Spain: The government warned that army patrols would catch people outside without good reason
• Bavaria: Germany’s second most populous state became the first state in impose a lockdown
• France: Police said patrols at Paris railway stations had been reinforced to stop people going on trips for the weekend
• Indonesia: A state of emergency will be in force in the capital Jakarta from Monday - bars, cinemas and many other businesses will be shut down.

Why did the US restrict border traffic?

President Donald Trump said on Friday: “In normal times, these massive flows [of immigrants] place a vast burden on our healthcare system, but during a global pandemic, they threaten to create a perfect storm that would spread the infection to our border agents, migrants and to the public at large.”

Hours after he spoke, the White House announced that a staff member in Vice-President Mike Pence’s office had tested positive for coronavirus, though a spokeswoman said the unnamed patient did not come into close contact with Mr Pence or Mr Trump.

Earlier this week President Trump announced that the border with Canada would be closed to non-essential traffic “by mutual consent”.

During Friday’s news conference, Mr Pompeo said the restrictions would take effect on Saturday and also apply to Mexico. They are due be in place for at least 30 days.

US citizens “should arrange immediate return” unless they intend to remain abroad for some time, Mr Pompeo said.

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