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El Salvador widens entry restrictions over coronavirus fears

FILE PHOTO: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele speaks during a ceremony to deploy military personnel to support his security plan in San Salvador, El Salvador, February 18, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said on Friday that migration authorities will be ordered to deny entry to most travelers arriving from Iran, which has one of the largest outbreaks of the new coronavirus outside China.

Salvadorans and diplomats arriving from the Middle Eastern country will be allowed in but will have to spend 30 days in quarantine, Bukele said on Twitter.

"This is a strictly a health measure," he added. "From the heart we hope that the virus will be contained soon or a vaccine will develop."

El Salvador has no reported cases of coronavirus.

Earlier this week, Bukele said he would prohibit the entry of people arriving from Italy and South Korea, with the same quarantine conditions imposed on Salvadorans and diplomats.

(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

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