WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2020) The US State Department is expected to lose $98 million in visa revenues used to provide critical services to Americans abroad due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, Bureau of Consular Affairs Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ian Brownlee said during a congressional hearing.
"We anticipate a loss of 98 million Dollars of visa revenues this year as a result of COVID-19 [novel coronavirus]," Brownlee told a House of Representatives foreign affairs subcommittee on Thursday.
Brownlee said the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs provides Americans abroad with emergency services. However, the bureau's operations are funded in most part by fees such as from visa applicants.
Brownlee asked Congress to provide the bureau with additional funding to fill the void of lost visa revenue in order to maintain critical services for Americans overseas.
As of Wednesday, the number of US citizens diagnosed with the novel coronavirus stood at 59, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Thursday, more than 82,000 people have contracted the novel coronavirus worldwide of which some 2,800 have died and more than 33,000 have recovered.
According to Johns Hopkins University's online coronavirus tracker, as of Thursday 60 cases have been confirmed in the United States, of which six people have recovered.
