Report: E.U. to Ban Americans, but Not Chinese, from Entry over Coronavirus

The European Union will reportedly bar travellers from the United States while allowing people from China to enter the bloc after lifting Chinese coronavirus travel restrictions, a report from the New York Times claimed on Tuesday.

Citizens from the United States, alongside those from Brazil and Russia, would be barred from entering the EU according to two lists of acceptable countries allegedly drawn up by Eurocrats – one of which consists of 47 countries and the other 54 countries. Both lists include the United States.

The two lists would permit travel from China, where the Wuhan born virus emerged, as well as citizens from underdeveloped nations such as Cuba, Vietnam, and Uganda, where minimal testing for the coronavirus has taken place. Both the governments of Uganda and Vietnam claim to have documented zero coronavirus deaths; Cuba claims to have its outbreak under control despite allowing global tourism late into the pandemic.

A spokesman for the European Commission, Adalbert Jahnz, told the Times that “discussions are happening very intensively” to come to an agreement on the final list of permitted countries by July 1.

The European Union has reportedly decided to add the United States over fears that the virus will spread back into the bloc from America.

The EU claimed that the decision is not a political one, saying that it will use the number of new infections per 100,000 people as a benchmark for lifting travel restrictions. At present, the number stands at 107 for the United States, compared to 16 for the EU.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control informed negotiators from the 27 member states that determining the rate of infections within foreign countries will be difficult as some countries, most notably China, have been caught lying about the number of domestic cases.

There is also the issue of how widespread testing has been in some states, as poorer nations do not have the capability to test as many of their citizens as say the United States, which has tested 25 million people – far more than any other country.

At his rally in Tulsa over the weekend, President Trump said, “When you do testing to that extent, you’re gonna find more people you’re gonna find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down, please.”

European Union officials reportedly noted, however, that the ban on American travellers may not be permanent, with the list of permitted countries to be revised on a bi-weekly basis.

It is unclear if the bloc informed U.S. officials or will do so before making the bans public, if they do come to fruition. In March, when President Trump announced a travel ban from European Union countries, Eurocrats in the bloc decried the act, complaining that they were not consulted.

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka