New York, Mar 21 (AFP) Flights were briefly suspended to New York and Philadelphia on Saturday because of staffing problems caused by the coronavirus, aviation officials said.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told air traffic controllers to stop all departures to New York's JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and other airports "due to staffing issues."

It lifted the order -- which also included airports in the Philadelphia area -- after around 30 minutes.

The airports are "now able to accept arrivals," the FAA said in its updated advisory.

It came a day after the FAA said an air traffic controller assigned to JFK airport tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

The illness has claimed 278 lives in the US and infected more than 22,000 people, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)