With less than 48 hours left in his presidency, President Trump announced late Monday that he was stepping down. COVID-19 related travel restrictions he expelled foreign nationals from much of Europe and Brazil. Travel restrictions will continue for most who come from China and Iran.
The restrictions would be lifted on January 26 after the president-elect Joe Biden comes into office, and Biden spokesman Jen Psaki tweeted Monday that the new administration does not intend to lift the travel conditions on January 26th.
“With the worsening pandemic and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” Psaki wrote.
Mr. Trump cites coordination with U.S. officials and transparency as the justification for lifting travel restrictions on Europe and Brazil.
The President’s proclamation stated that ‘unrestricted access to the United States of persons physically in the Schengen area, the United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside Europe), the Republic of Ireland and the Federal Republic of Brazil, is no longer . detrimental to the interests of the United States and finds that it is in the interest of the United States to terminate the suspension of access to the United States of persons who were physically in those jurisdictions. ‘
Mr. Trump limited travel from China to late January 2020, and limited travel comes from Europe in March 2020.
Now many countries restrict travelers from the US due to the high infection rates in the states. The US has the highest number confirms COVID-19 cases in the world, and the highest death toll.