Donald Trump’s administration had announced a plan to relax travel restrictions on passengers from several countries starting from January 26.
According to a White House statement on Sunday, US President Joe Biden will continue to impose a Covid-19 travel ban to the United States from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and 26 countries in Europe and also extend the ban to South Africa as an effort to ramp up the US response to the pandemic.
The latest ban would prevent most non-US citizens from entering if they have recently been to South Africa, where a new strain of coronavirus has been identified. It is unclear how long the restrictions will last.
Donald Trump’s administration a few days before Biden’s inauguration had announced a plan to relax travel restrictions on travelers from several countries starting from January 26, when arrivals to the United States would need to have tested negative for the virus.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that it is not a time to lift restrictions on international travel. She also added that on the advice of the medical team, the travel restrictions won’t be lifted and the administration plans to “strengthen public health measures around international travel” to further mitigate the spread of Covid-19.
As we have reported earlier, Biden on Thursday announced that all passengers flying to the United States would be tested for Covid-19 before boarding a flight into the country and required to undergo quarantine upon arrival.
