Trump decides to lift some Covid-19 travel restrictions, but Biden plans to block order :: WRAL.com



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– President Donald Trump lifted coronavirus-related travel restrictions for much of Europe, the UK, Ireland and Brazil on Monday, effective January 26 – a move the administration of President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to block.

In an executive order issued Monday evening, Trump said he was advised to lift restrictions on inbound travelers to the United States from the 26 European countries in the Schengen zone, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. Brazil, but to leave restrictions on travel from Iran and China.

“I agree with the Secretary that this action is the best way to continue to protect Americans from COVID-19 while allowing travel to resume safely,” Trump wrote in the order. referring to Secretary of Health and Social Services Alex Azar.

Biden is expected to take the presidency on Wednesday and his new press secretary Jen Psaki has said his administration will not lift the restrictions.

“With the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants emerging around the world, now is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” Psaki said on Twitter. “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19. “

Reuters was the first to report the order.

The expected easing of travel restrictions comes after the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week it would require a negative Covid-19 test of all air passengers entering the United States – a decision which she says could help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Air passengers will be required to take a test within three days before their flight departs to the United States and provide written documentation of their lab results, or documentation showing they have recovered from Covid-19, said the agency in a statement to CNN.

CNN has contacted the White House Coronavirus Task Force to find out if the panel approves the planned decision.

The combination of the testing program announced last week and the lifting of travel restrictions matches the interests of several airlines that are in negotiations with the CDC and the White House. Earlier this month, a group of major airlines called on the Trump administration to widely expand a testing program for passengers to the United States and simultaneously lift travel restrictions.

Airlines for America – whose members include American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines – has written to Vice President Mike Pence asking the administration to implement “a global program requiring testing for travelers to states. -United”. Such a program would allow authorities to lift restrictions on entry into the United States from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Brazil, the group wrote.

Last month, the CDC announced that passengers arriving in the United States from the United Kingdom must test negative for Covid-19 before departure in response to a new variant of the coronavirus which is believed to originate in the United Kingdom and is potentially more transmissible. At least 72 cases of a variant first identified in the UK have been found in 10 US states, according to data released last week by the CDC.

Many of the countries affected by Trump’s order have their own recent requirements for American travelers seeking to enter their borders. American travelers must have a negative Covid-19 test within the previous 72 hours to travel to the UK or Ireland, and in conjunction with proof of a completed Travelers Health Declaration to enter Brazil. American travelers cannot enter Schengen zone countries, including Spain (except with special permission or requirements), Germany, France, Italy and Sweden.

The potential reversal of travel restrictions would come as the Trump administration moves on to another element of the coronavirus response in the President’s final days in power.

The Department of Health and Human Services was expected to announce sweeping changes last week in vaccine deployment guidelines aimed at increasing the number of overdue vaccinations in the first month – effectively taking the approach proposed by Biden’s new administration.

Since then, hopes of a surge in Covid-19 vaccine shipments as part of a new policy of releasing second doses held in reserve appear to be fading – with the revelation that these doses have already been distributed, unlike the recent indications from the Trump administration.

A senior administration official told CNN that when the administration announced it would release reserved doses last Friday, many of those reserves had already been released into the system as of last year, while the production was increasing.

This story has been updated with new developments.

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