The European Union on Thursday will consider reimposing restrictions on U.S. travelers due to rising cases of the Chinese coronavirus in President Biden’s America, despite his administration’s vaccination effort which has seen over 171 million fully vaccinated in the U.S.
The E.U. is expected to discuss potential restrictions in a meeting between E.U. ambassadors and representatives of Slovenia — which is currently holding the presidency of the E.U. Council — which reportedly made the suggestion.
According to Schengenvisainfo News:
The US has marked a number of 507 new positive cases with COVID-19 per 100,000 people during the last 14 days, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) data indicates, which means that now its infection rates are beyond the rates one country should stay under in order for its citizens to be eligible to enter the EU for non-essential purposes.
[…]
According to ECDC data, the continent of America has reported 80,477,464 positive cases for the 14 days week notice, with the United States experiencing the highest number of infections – 36,681,559, Brazil (20,364,099), Argentina (5,088,271), Colombia (4,870,922) and Mexico (3,108,438).
Based on the data, the U.S. is considered “high-risk.” For the last two months, however, fully vaccinated Americans have been permitted to travel to the bulk of European countries without adhering to mandatory testing and quarantine requirements.
However, such a move — reimposing restrictions — would put a damper on the travel industry, which is continuing to bounce back after mass shutdowns and restrictions over the last year and a half.
“Such a decision would be hugely disappointing for Europe’s airlines, not to mention our tourism sector, which has benefited greatly from the influx of American travelers since restrictions were removed in June,” the Airlines for Europe lobby group said on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg, which noted the proposal “recommends removing several other countries from the permitted list, including Israel, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private”: