A traveler leaves a test center at Heathrow Airport in London on 17 January 2021.
Hollie Adams | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The incoming Biden government said Monday it will not lift an entry ban for most visitors from Europe, the UK and Brazil, shortly after President Donald Trump ended Covid-19’s travel restrictions.
“As the pandemic worsens and more contagious variants emerge worldwide, now is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” tweeted President-elect Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Trump introduced the rules early in the pandemic to curb the spread of the virus and retracted them Monday, just days before Biden’s inauguration Wednesday. They prohibit entry to the US for most non-US citizens if they had been to Brazil, the 26 Schengen countries of Europe, Ireland or the UK in the past two weeks.
Trump’s order came less than a week after the US said travelers coming from abroad, including US citizens, should test negative for Covid-19 before flying. That requirement will take effect on January 26, the same day the travel restrictions would be lifted.
Airlines have repeatedly asked the US government to lift travel bans, which have contributed to a sharp drop in air travel demand, with Covid-19 pre-flight testing.