WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Monday restored COVID-19 travel restrictions for most non-US travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders. He also added South Africa to the list.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said South Africa has been added to the restricted list due to concerns about a variant of the virus spreading outside that country.
“Now is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” said Psaki.
The ban that Biden is reintroducing suspends entry for almost all foreigners who have been in any of the countries on the restricted list at any point during the 14 days prior to their planned trip to the US
The new requirements take effect on Tuesday.
Top American infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called Biden’s decision to reinstate travel restrictions – and add South Africa to the list – “cautious” in a round of televised interviews on Monday.
“We are concerned about the mutation in South Africa,” Fauci told “CBS This Morning.” “We look at it very actively. It’s clearly different and more ominous than the one in the UK, and I think it makes a lot of sense to limit travel by non-residents. “
Biden respected an order from President Donald Trump during his last days in office calling for the relaxation of travel restrictions starting Tuesday. Trump’s move was made in conjunction with a new requirement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that all international travelers to the US be tested negative for COVID-19 within three days of boarding.
Last week, Biden expanded the CDC requirement and ordered federal agencies to require international travelers to quarantine upon arrival in the US and get another negative test to slow the spread of the virus. Those requirements will also take effect on Tuesday.
The 26 European countries affected by the reintroduction of the ban are part of the border-free Schengen zone. They include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Biden’s team had announced that he would reinstate travel restrictions, but the addition of South Africa to the restricted travel list underscores the new government’s concerns about mutations in the virus.
The South African variant has not been discovered in the United States, but another variant – native to the United Kingdom – has been found in several states.
Fauci said there is “a very slight, modest decrease” in the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against those variants, but “there is enough cushion with the vaccines we have that we still consider them to be effective against both the UK. tribe like the South. Africa kind. “
But he warned that more mutations are possible and said scientists are preparing to modify the vaccines if necessary.
“We really need to make sure we get started, and we already have, to prepare if we need to upgrade the vaccines,” Fauci said. “We are already taking steps in that direction despite the fact that the vaccines we have now are working.”