WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Monday reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries that allow cross-border travel open. He also added South Africa to the list.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said South Africa was added to the restricted list because of concerns about a variant of the virus that has spread beyond that nation.
“This is not the time to remove restrictions on international travel,” Psaki said.
The ban that Biden reinstates suspends entry to almost all foreign nationals who have been in any of the countries on the restricted list at any time during the 14 days prior to their planned trip to the United States.
The new requirements will take effect on Tuesday.
The leading infectious disease expert in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday described Biden’s decision to reinstate travel restrictions – and add South Africa to the list – in a round of television interviews.
“We are concerned about the mutation in South Africa,” Fauci told CBS This Morning. “It simply came to our notice then. It is clearly different and more disastrous than the United Kingdom, and I think it is very prudent to restrict the travel of non-citizens. “
Biden venerated an order from President Donald Trump in his last days in office asking him to relax travel restrictions starting Tuesday. The Trump move was made in conjunction with a new requirement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that all international travelers to the United States obtain a negative COVID-19 test within three days of boarding the flight.
Last week, Biden extended the CDC requirement and ordered federal agencies to require international travelers to quarantine upon arrival in the U.S. and obtain another negative test to curb the spread of the virus. These requirements also take effect on Tuesday.
The 26 European countries affected by the reinstatement of the ban are part of the border-free Schengen area. 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 it would re-impose travel restrictions, but the addition of South Africa to the restricted travel list highlights the new administration’s concern about the virus mutations.
The South African variant has not been discovered in the United States, but another variant – originally from the United Kingdom – has been detected in several states.
Fauci said there is “a slight and modest decrease” in the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against these variants, but “there is enough cushion with the vaccines we have that we still consider effective against both the UK strain as against the South African I am “.
But he warned that more mutations are possible and said scientists are preparing to adapt vaccines if necessary.
“We really need to make sure we start, and we already have, to prepare if vaccines need to be updated,” Fauci said. “We are already taking steps in that direction even though the vaccines we have now work.”