Washington US officials said the Biden administration is easing a series of COVID-19 travel restrictions and new rules that now go into effect later this year will require foreign nationals wishing to travel to the US to show proof of vaccination.
The new restrictions will replace a series of travel restrictions imposed during the Trump administration that limited travel from Europe and China to the US, which were later expanded to include Brazil and South Africa. President Biden has been under pressure from European politicians and major airlines to lift the ban.
Foreign nationals would need to show a negative test for Covid-19 taken within three days of visiting the US – a continuation of existing rules, officials said.
The new travel policy will come into effect in early November.
The travel restrictions were one of the first measures by the Trump administration last year to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, keeping it out of the US, restrictions foreign nationals have recently imposed in Europe, the UK, China and some other countries. time spent in enter america
US citizens who have been fully vaccinated will still have to show that they have tested negative within three days of visiting the US under the new rules, something that has been required since the beginning of this year.
Unvaccinated Americans will be subject to more stringent testing requirements and must provide proof of a negative test within one day of their travel to the US, they will also be required to take a COVID-19 test again upon arrival in the US. officials said.
According to officials, the new rules will apply to people traveling by air in the US. Restrictions do not apply to travel by land in the US.
As part of the new set of rules, airlines will have to implement systems to be able to do contact tracing for all passengers arriving in the US, which some carriers opposed in the first months of the pandemic, but in the coming months. Took several steps to collect more contact information from customers on a voluntary basis.
Mr Biden had for months resisted calls from European officials and airlines to lift the ban. Instead, they put together several working groups that have worked behind the scenes to analyze the various options.
The European Union reimposed its travel ban on US non-essential travelers in late August, as vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans were allowed into the summer tourist season starting July 1. However, in practice, most EU countries continue to allow Americans to come to the continent. They can show that they have been vaccinated.
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