AP News/ Web Desk:
According to AP news, European Union plans to recommend that its member states reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infection levels in the country, EU diplomats said Monday. A decision to remove the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel would reverse advice from June when the 27-nation bloc recommended lifting restrictions on U.S. travelers before the summer tourism season.
The guidance could come as early as this week, according to the EU diplomats. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the review process was still ongoing. Any decision would be nonbinding, however. The EU has no unified COVID-19 tourism policy and national governments have the authority to decide whether they keep their borders open to U.S. tourists.
The threshold for being on the EU list is having not more than 75 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days. Coronavirus cases have surged in the U.S. in recent weeks, running at more than 1,100 a day, the highest level since mid-March.
The EU safe list currently includes Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, New Zealand, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Ukraine, and the U.S.
