A New York federal court district, citing coronavirus concerns, is barring people who have been to China, South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran within the past two weeks.
The ban announced Monday applies to Southern District of New York courthouses, which are located in downtown Manhattan and in the cities of White Plains and Poughkeepsie.
The Southern District handles federal criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases from Manhattan and Bronx, as well as from Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan counties.
The ban also applies to people who reside in or who have had close contact with someone who has been in one of the five countries in the past 14 days, people who have been asked to self-quarantine by health workers, and people who have been diagnosed with or been in contact with others who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
"Anyone attempting to enter in violation of these protocols will be denied entry by a Court Security Officer," says the order, signed by Chief U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon.
"These orders will remain in place temporarily until it is determined safe to remove them," the order says.
The order comes a day after Italy's prime minister signed a decree imposing restrictions on the movement of people in the northern region of Lombardy — the epicenter of the outbreak in that country — and 14 other northern provinces until April 3.
Italy has at least 7,300 cases of coronavirus and more than 360 deaths from the virus.
China has nearly 81,000 cases and around 3,120 deaths.
In Iran, nearly 240 deaths have been reported with more than 7,160 confirmed cases.
South Korea has almost 7,500 cases of coronavirus.
Japan has more than 1,000 cases, of which 706 are from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
People who have cases pending in the Southern District of New York were told in the order to contact their attorney. Attorneys who are affected by the order were instructed to contact judges' chambers.
Jurors were told to call the Jury Department.
The federal courthouse in Manhattan has been the site of many major criminal cases, including the criminal prosecution of President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, various terrorism cases, and the trial of lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, who was convicted of charges related to her sale of a biotech stock after getting nonpublic information about the company from her broker.