With less than 48 hours to go before his presidency, President Trump announced on Monday night that he was lifting travel restrictions related to COVID-19 that he imposed on foreigners from much of Europe and Brazil. Travel restrictions will continue for most of those coming from China and Iran.
The restrictions would be lifted on January 26, after President-elect Joe Biden took office and Biden’s spokesperson Jen Psaki tweeted Monday that the new administration does not intend to suspend travel conditions on 26 January.
“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,” wrote Psaki.
Mr. Trump cited coordination with the American authorities and transparency as a justification for lifting travel restrictions in Europe and Brazil.
The president’s proclamation said that “the unrestricted entry into the United States of persons who were 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 harmful to interests of the United States and conclude that it is in the interests of the United States to end the suspension of entry into the United States of persons who have been physically present in those jurisdictions. “
Mr. Trump restricted travel from China in late January 2020, and restricted travel coming from Europe in March 2020.
Many countries now restrict travelers from the United States due to high infection rates in the states. The USA has the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world and the highest number of deaths.