A traveler leaves a testing center at Heathrow airport on 17 January 2021 in London.
Hollie Adams | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The new Biden government said on Monday that it would not lift the ban on entry for most visitors from Europe, the UK and Brazil, shortly after President Donald Trump ordered the end of Covid-19 travel restrictions.
“With the worsening of the pandemic and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” tweeted President-elect Joe Biden’s spokesman Jen Psaki.
Trump set the rules early in the pandemic to contain the spread of the virus and on Monday rescinded them, just days before Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. They prohibit entry into the United States for most non-American citizens if they have been to Brazil, the 26 countries of Europe’s Schengen area, Ireland or the United Kingdom in the previous two weeks.
Trump’s request came less than a week after the U.S. said it would require travelers arriving from abroad, including U.S. citizens, to test Covid-19 negative before flying. This requirement takes effect on January 26, the same day that travel restrictions would be lifted.
Airlines have repeatedly asked the U.S. government to lift travel bans, which have contributed to a sharp drop in air travel demand, with Covid-19 pre-flight tests.