Earlier this week, I wrote about why travel isn’t returning to normal any time soon. We’re seeing a resurgence of case numbers in many countries around the world, coupled with a bleak economic outlook. However, a few countries have already put phased reopening measures in place in order to resume travel. A few weeks back, we saw some initial reports about how US travelers could possibly not be allowed to enter Europe in summer. As July 1 beckons, that seems to be more likely to happen. Is a travel ban to Europe on the horizon?
Europe Travel Ban
Initially, we saw the EU lift restrictions on member nations for travel. However, Axios and the New York Times report that updated lists continue to exclude the US. The new list includes the following countries that are deemed as safe for travel:
- Australia
- Canada
- Japan
- South Korea
- Thailand
- New Zealand
- Rwanda
- The Vatican
Axios opines that this could well be in retaliation to the Trump’s administration’s Europe ban imposed earlier during the year. As numbers in Europe continue to stabilize, the US continues to see increased number of cases.
The European Union is preparing to ban American travelers from entering the bloc when it reopens its borders to the outside world starting July 1, labeling the U.S. along with Russia and Brazil for their failure to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to the New York Times.
It’s an international rebuke of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic. Millions of American tourists travel to the EU every summer, but that’s unlikely to happen until the U.S. gets the virus under control. The final decision on which countries will be excluded from the EU’s list of admissible travelers is expected early next week, before the bloc reopens on July 1.
The Pundit’s Mantra
The numbers are quite staggering as the US, which accounts for just 5% of the world’s population, registered over 25% of the total deaths globally due to Covid-19. In stark contrast, countries like India and China, which together account for over 35% of the global population, registered 16% of the total deaths.
Given the current scenario, it looks highly unlikely that we’ll see these restrictions get lifted before July 1st. However, if you’re looking to travel any time soon and wish to track the most recent travel restrictions, you can track them here.
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