The State Department is preparing to announce a Level 4 travel advisory applying to all international travel, instructing all Americans abroad to either return home immediately or to take or prepare to shelter overseas amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Americans will also be advised not to travel overseas until the outbreak has been contained.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reportedly approved the advisory, three sources close to the situation told Politico.
On Wednesday, the New York Times published an article highlighting American citizens who have been left stranded in Morrocco. They say that they are unhappy with the U.S. Embassy, alleging that they have been “unresponsive” to their pleas for help.
“France is being very open with the citizens and is moving mountains to get them home; meanwhile the U.S. embassy says ‘call the airlines’ and ‘prepare to be here for a while, but not indefinitely,'” Cristina Pratt, who was visiting Morocco from the East Bay in California, told the news outlet.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the military is trying to help a large group of Americans stranded in Peru. “We have a group of young people in Peru, and we’re working on taking care of that with the military,” he said.
Currently, thousands of Americans are stranded across the globe, and with the government delivering mixed messages as to any plans forward, the embassies appear to be in limbo also.
A State Department official said in an email to The Times that the department “has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.”
