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(CNN) –– The president of the United States, Donald Trump, suspended this Monday the travel restrictions due to covid-19 for Brazil, much of Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The measure will begin on January 26, almost a week after Trump leaves office.
In a decree issued late Monday, Trump said he had been advised to suspend restrictions for European countries in the Schengen zone – which consists of 26 nations – the United Kingdom, Ireland and Brazil. However, he added that he leaves travel restrictions in place for Iran and China.
“I agree with the secretary that this action is the best way to continue to protect Americans from COVID-19. Meanwhile, travel is allowed to resume safely, “Trump wrote in the decree. He was referring to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar.
President-elect Joe Biden will assume the presidency on Wednesday. And his incoming press secretary, Jen Psaki, said her government will not lift the restrictions.
“With the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” wrote Psaki on Twitter. “On the advice of our medical team, the administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on January 26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19, “he added.
Reuters It was the first to report on the decree.
More than 398,000 people in the US have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Relaxation in travel restrictions
The long-awaited easing of travel restrictions comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week that it would require a negative COVID-19 test from all incoming passengers. by air to the United States. A measure that, according to the agency, can help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Air passengers must undergo a test within three days before the departure of their flight to the United States. In addition to providing written documentation of your lab results or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19, the CDC told CNN in a statement.
CNN reached out to the White House coronavirus task force to find out if this team approved the anticipated measure.
The combination of the testing program announced last week and the suspension of travel restrictions aligns with the interests of several airlines that have been in negotiations with the CDC and the White House. Earlier this month, a group of major airlines asked the Trump administration to expand a program to screen passengers bound for the United States. Also that, simultaneously, it would lift travel restrictions.
Airlines for America –– whose members include American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines–– wrote to Vice President Mike Pence. The goal was to ask the administration to implement “a global program to require evidence from travelers to the United States.” Such a program would allow authorities to suspend restrictions on entering the country from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Brazil, the group wrote.
Last month, the CDC announced that passengers arriving in the United States from the United Kingdom must test negative for covid-19 before traveling. This, in response to a new variant of coronavirus said to have originated in the UK and is potentially more transmittable. At least 72 cases of a variant first identified in the UK have been found in 10 US states, according to data released by the CDC last week.
The Vaccine Situation in the US
The possible suspension of travel restrictions would occur when the Trump administration modified another key point in the response to the coronavirus. Right, in the last days of the president in office.
The Department of Health was expected to announce sweeping changes last week to guidelines for vaccine administration. This, in an effort to increase the number of vaccinations in the first month. And thereby adopting the approach proposed by the incoming Biden administration.
Since then, hopes for an increase in shipments of covid-19 vaccines under a new policy to distribute second doses that were in reserve seem to evaporate. Precisely, with the revelation that those doses have already been distributed. Which goes against the recent indications of the Trump administration.
A senior administration official told CNN that when the administration announced it would distribute reserved doses last Friday, many of those reserves had already been pulled into the system as of last year as production increased.
CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen, Jessica Firger, Eric Levenson, Kristen Holmes, and Sara Murray contributed to this report.
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