White House: US to maintain Covid foreign travel restrictions

The US does not intend to lift Covid-19 travel restrictions for non-Americans, a senior White House official has said.

The decision comes amid pressure from airlines and tourism industry lobbyists to lift the sweeping ban before the end of the summer travel season.

The official said the decision was due to a rise in infections, the Delta variant’s transmissibility and a recent advisory against travel to the UK.

Cases in the US continue to rise, particularly among the non-vaccinated.

“Given where we are today with the Delta variant, the United States will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point,” an unnamed US official told White House reporters on Monday.

“Cases are rising here at home, particularly among those who are unvaccinated and appear likely continue to increase in the weeks ahead.”

Travel restrictions due to Covid were first imposed by the US on China in 2020 January.

Since then, the US ban has expanded to include non-US citizens who had recently visited the UK, the 26-nation Schengen bloc in Europe, Brazil, Ireland, India, Iran and South Africa.

Despite this, the US said it will keep its borders shut to neighbours Canada and Mexico until at least 21 August.

“The administration understands the importance of international travel and is united in wanting to reopen international travel in a safe and sustainable manner,” the White House official added.

It comes days after the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the highly-contagious Delta variant now accounts for 80% of all US cases.

On Thursday, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said that the weekly average for new infections had jumped by 53% in the previous week.

Vaccination rates have slowed in the US since peaking in the spring. US officials say nearly all new cases are appearing in those who are unvaccinated, and have begun referring to Covid as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”.