With less than 48 hours left in his presidency, President Trump announced late on Monday that he is lifting COVID-19 related travel restrictions he placed foreign nationals from much of Europe and Brazil. Travel restrictions continue to apply to most coming from China and Iran.
The restrictions will be lifted from January 26, after the President-elect Joe Biden takes office, and the spokeswoman for Biden Jen Psaki tweeted Monday that the new administration does not intend to lift the travel conditions on January 26.
“As the pandemic worsens and infectious variants emerge worldwide, now is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” Psaki wrote.
Mr. Trump cited coordination with US officials and transparency as justifications for lifting travel restrictions on Europe and Brazil.
The President’s proclamation stated that “unrestricted access to the United States of persons who have been physically present in the Schengen area, the United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside Europe), the Republic of Ireland and the Federative Republic of Brazil is no longer permitted. are detrimental to the interests of the United States and believe that it is in the interests of the United States to end the suspension of entry into the United States of persons who have physically been in those jurisdictions. “
Trump restricted travel from China in late January 2020, and limited travel coming from Europe in March 2020.
Now many countries restrict travelers from the US due to the high infection rates in the states. The US has the highest number confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world, and the highest death toll.