A traveler leaves a test center at Heathrow Airport on 17 January 2021 in London.
Hollie Adams | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The Biden administration, which entered on Monday, said it would not lift the entry ban on most visitors from Europe, the United Kingdom and Brazil, shortly after President Donald Trump ordered the restrictions lifted. of the Covid-19.
“With the worsening pandemic and the more contagious variants appearing around the world, now is not the time to remove restrictions on international travel,” tweeted President-elect Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Trump set the rules at the start of the pandemic to curb the spread of the virus and on Monday rescinded them, just days before Biden took office on Wednesday. They ban entry to the United States for most non-US citizens if they have been to Brazil, the 26 Schengen countries of Europe, Ireland, or the United Kingdom during the previous two-week period.
Trump’s order came less than a week after the United States said it would require travelers arriving from abroad, including U.S. citizens, to give Covid-19 a negative before flying. This requirement will take effect on January 26, the same day that travel restrictions would be lifted.
Airlines have repeatedly called on the U.S. government to lift travel bans, which has contributed to a sharp decline in demand for air travel, with tests prior to Covid-19.