- Five Republican senators, led by Marco Rubio, urged the Biden administration on Friday to implement a travel ban between the United States and China due to a surge in cases of a Chinese respiratory illness.
- The letter, signed by Rubio, who serves as the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, emphasized the need to restrict travel until more is known about the risks associated with the new illness.
- The global concern over the increase in cases prompted the World Health Organization to request additional information from China, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases.