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United States
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Biden won’t relax Europe, Brazil travel bans
Outgoing US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of the travel ban for travelers from the UK, much of Europe and Brazil, but his successor plans to immediately block it.
The easing of restrictions takes effect on 26 January after new President Joe Biden takes over at the White House.
The Biden transition team quickly dismissed it just hours after Trumps announcement.
"On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of Covid-19," tweeted Jen Psaki, Biden’s press secretary.
"This is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel."
On the same date, the CDC’s order requiring negative Covid tests for all inbound travelers comes into effect.
The US had barred travelers who have spent the past 14 days in the UK, Ireland or the 26 countries making up the European Schengen area from entering the US.
It also banned non-American citizens from Brazil.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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