With less than 48 hours to go before the presidency, President Trump announced Monday afternoon that he would rise Travel restrictions related to COVID-19 placed foreign nationals from much of Europe and Brazil. Travel restrictions will continue for most from China and Iran.
The restrictions would be lifted from January 26, after the president-elect Joe Biden arrives at the charge and the spokeswoman of Biden Jen Psaki tweeted Monday that the new administration does not intend to lift the conditions of the trip on January 26th.
“With the worsening of the pandemic and the more contagious variants appearing around the world, it is not the time to remove restrictions on international travel,” Psaki wrote.
Trump cited coordination with U.S. officials and transparency as a justification for lifting travel restrictions in Europe and Brazil.
The President’s proclamation stated that “unrestricted entry into 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 detrimental to the interests of the United States and finding that it is in the interest of the United States to end the suspension of the entry into the United States of persons who have been physically present in those jurisdictions. “
Trump restricted travel from China in late January 2020 and restricted travel from Europe in March 2020.
Now, many countries restrict U.S. travelers due to high infection rates in the states. The US has the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world, and the highest number of deaths.