EU Considering New Travel Restrictions for Americans
The European Union is expected to review the list of countries from which non-essential travel is allowed under coronavirus restrictions. The review is set to take place later this week, and could reconsider the inclusion of the United States.
The list of safe countries currently has 23 countries, including United States, Japan and Australia, which are considered safe from a health perspective. But the list is reviewed periodically and adjusted depending on the latest Coronavirus developments in each country.
The EU lifted restrictions on the U.S. in June, but that could be now reversed based on information from a person familiar with the situation who talked to Bloomberg.
The EU defines “safe countries” as in no more than 75 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the previous 14 days. The U.S rate is currently almost 270 cases per 100,000 and increasing.
The restrictions, if re-implemented, would apply to non-essential travel. However, fully vaccinated people should still be able to enter EU countries, the person in question said. Almost 51% of Americans are fully vaccinated so far, so this would not be a complete travel ban.
