London, March 16 (IANS): With the continent termed the new "epicentre" of coronavirus, the European Union is considering banning all non-essential travel into the Schengen borderless travel zone by citizens of non-EU countries, the BBC reported on Monday.
Citing a diplomatic note it has seen, it said that the proposed ban would not apply to citizens from the handful of non-Schengen EU members, such as Croatia and Ireland and even the UK which is deemed a member during the Brexit transition period, as well as non-EU citizens who had residence rights.
According to the note, trips deemed "essential" could include those by healthcare workers, transit passengers or people travelling for important family reasons.
This proposal has not been published or approved by the member states yet, hence why details are quite sparse, the BBC said.