President Donald Trump said he will significantly restrict travel from Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days, the most far-reaching measure yet in the administration’s efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Trump, speaking Wednesday evening from the Oval Office, said the restrictions, which won’t apply to the U.K., will go into effect Friday at midnight. He blamed the European Union for not curbing travel from China in the early days of the outbreak, and credited his own measures with having limited the number of cases in the U.S.

“The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots,” Trump said. As a result, “clusters” of infection in the U.S. “were seeded by” European travelers, he added.

In a statement following Trump’s address, Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf clarified that the administration was suspending the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in any of 26 European nations in the previous two weeks.

The restriction does not apply to legal permanent residents and immediate family members of U.S. citizens. Wolf said U.S. citizens arriving from Europe will travel through specific airports where they can undergo screening for the virus.

The president scheduled the remarks to lay out his plan for dealing with the rapid spread of a disease he labeled a “foreign virus” that has led to more than 1,100 infections in the U.S. and ravaged markets. The S&P 500 closed Wednesday 19% lower than its February high, with every industry down at least 3.9% on the day.

“This is not a financial crisis,” Trump said. “This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome as a nation and as a world.”

The World Health Organization earlier Wednesday declared the outbreak is now a pandemic and urged governments to step up containment efforts as the number of worldwide cases topped 123,000 and deaths exceeded 4,500.

Trump claimed that his early action to restrict travel from China and other affected countries slowed the spread of the virus in the U.S. He said the administration is “monitoring the situation in China and South Korea,” and that “a possible early opening” could happen if the situation improves.

“I’m kind of astonished,” said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The idea that this is going to be a solution, it moves us back into this whole idea that we have an opportunity still to close off transmission to the United States and it ignores the reality that it’s already inside our borders.”

Following the remarks, the White House announced that Trump was canceling travel to Colorado and Nevada that were scheduled for this week.

Trump also called on Congress to take action to deliver paid sick leave to hourly workers who risk their livelihoods if they stay home. He also recommended that nursing homes curtail non-medically necessary visits.

The president said he is deferring tax payments for certain individuals and businesses affected by the virus. He said the deferments would provide $200 billion in additional liquidity to the economy.

Trump added that he is instructing the Small Business Administration to provide emergency capital to affected firms.

“This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history,” Trump said. “I am confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus.”