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Corona pandemic: EU wants to block entry for many countries

The EU countries want the entry restrictions imposed on people from the Corona pandemic USA and numerous other third countries for the time being. Only people from 14 countries are to be allowed to return to normal from July 1, as the dpa news agency citing EU diplomats reports, a corresponding decision-making process has been initiated.

Specifically, these are Algeria, Australia, Georgia, Japan, Canada, Morocco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. China should only be taken into account if, in return, it also removes entry restrictions for Europeans.

An official announcement of the decision is expected on Tuesday. It is certain that the required majority of the EU countries will come together, otherwise the written procedure for the decision would not have been initiated.

The number of new infections should be decisive in the future

According to the proposed resolution, the number of new Covid 19 infections in the two weeks before will be decisive for easing the entry restrictions in the future. In addition, the trend over the same period and how the respective state deals with the pandemic should also play a role.

Specifically, it is envisaged that the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within the past two weeks should be “close to or below 16” – in other words, as the EU average. The trend of new cases in the same period should be “stable or decreasing” compared to the previous 14 days. Measures for contact tracking of infected people, the number of tests and containment efforts are to play a role in the handling of states with Covid-19.

Citizens from countries heavily affected by the corona pandemic, such as the United States and Russia, would therefore initially be left out. The last time there were 60 to 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days. For countries like Brazil and Saudi Arabia, an overview by the EU health authority ECDC on Sunday even gives a value of 120 or more cases. The overview does not provide any information about the trend.

In order to take into account the development of the number of infections, the entry restrictions should be continuously checked. The question of whether EU citizens can travel to the respective third country should also be included. In China, for example, despite relatively low infection rates, foreigners are still banned from entry.

To curb the coronavirus pandemic, all EU states except Ireland and the non-EU states Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland agreed in mid-March to initially ban travel to the EU that was not absolutely necessary. The entry stop had been extended several times and is currently valid until the end of June.

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