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Comment by taiwanboy | Hacker News Reader

Countries that are heavily affected right now primarily have open borders with China (still!!?) - japan, South Korea, Italy, Iran, with tons of Chinese workers going back and forth

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US had banned travelers with recent Chinese history from entering the countries effectively from Feb 2nd.

I would be much more alert right now as regards to people from Europe/Middle East. Iran is a pretty powerful source of infections to the whole region and so far is just keep escalating.

BTW: in Iran's case, they banned entry from China early on, but one of the merchants gets to China via 3rd country and bring the virus back home.

At this point, I suspect that the East Coast, like New York or Boston, is going to get hit next. And the infected vectors are going to come in from Europe.

Once Manhattan reports its first confirmed case, then it’s over. This thing will go full blown.

What does it matter anymore who can and can't enter really ? It's everywhere, it's spread the globe, it's now in American communities and it's here to stay. It's no longer just a foreign issue now.

It's time to assume the brace position, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Because GP's username is "taiwan boy" and if you look at his comment history it would be obvious why it matters for him.

Italy has blocked flights to and from China pretty early. It seems that this prevented tracing and monitoring people coming from China, because they just flew in through a different country.

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