The EU recommends restoring Covid-related travel restrictions in the US, according to reports

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(CNN) – The European Union is expected to recommend on Monday that member states reinstate Covid-related travel restrictions and stop non-essential travel from the United States and five other countries, a diplomatic source told CNN on Monday.

According to the source, the EU would reinstate travel restrictions on coronavirus, such as quarantine and testing requirements for unvaccinated travelers from these countries.

Other countries that would be removed from the safe travel list would be Kosovo, Israel, Montenegro, Lebanon and northern Macedonia, the diplomat said.

The decision to renew the EU’s travel restrictions will become final on Monday if no EU country opposes it, the source told CNN, confirming other media reports.

The European Council, the EU’s governing body, recommended that the bloc lift restrictions on non-essential travel in 14 countries, including the US, in June.
However, cases of Covid-19 in the United States have increased in recent weeks as the highly infectious Delta variant spreads among unvaccinated Americans. Covid-19 cases among children are also reaching levels not seen since the winter.

“What’s happening now is totally predictable, but it can be completely prevented. And you know we know we have useful resources with vaccines to change that,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert. United States. “We could turn it around and we could do it efficiently and quickly if we just vaccinated these people.”

Nationally, 52.1% of the population was fully vaccinated as of Saturday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Florida had the highest Covid-19 hospitalization rate in the country on Saturday, with 75 patients per 100,000 hospital residents with the virus, according to data from federal health officials and Johns Hopkins University. It also reached a new pandemic of Covid-19 cases on Friday, reporting 690.5 new cases per 100,000 people every day from August 20 to 26, according to state data.

Less than 50% of people in South Carolina, Louisiana and Texas are completely vaccinated. Studies have shown that complete vaccination is necessary for optimal protection against the Delta variant.

Several hospitals in these four states (Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Louisiana) are struggling with lack of oxygen. Some run the risk of having to use the reserve supply or run the risk of running out of oxygen imminently, according to state health officials and hospital consultants.

Main image credit: Ramon Costa / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images

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