The United States will reopen in November to air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil, and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said on Monday, easing tough pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year, Reuters reports.
The decision, announced by White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients, marked an abrupt shift for President Joe Biden’s administration, which said last week it was not the right time to lift any restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases.
CNBC points out that airlines and other travel industry groups have clamored for the U.S. to lift the restrictions for months. The Trump administration had first issued the rules, which now apply to more than 30 countries, in March 2020. President Joe Biden upheld those rules in January, shortly after taking office.
The Biden administration is also tightening rules for unvaccinated U.S. citizens returning home. They will need to test one day before departure and test again after returning.
European and British officials have lifted entry bans for the U.S. and other visitors since vaccines became widely available this spring, but the Biden administration hadn’t reciprocated.
Allowing more international travelers into the U.S. would have wide-ranging impacts. A ban on much non-U.S. citizen travel has had broad effects on industries including airlines, retail, and restaurants.
The Washington Post stresses that the fate of the Biden presidency relies on whether these measures work and the country returns to some semblance of normalcy, aides and Democratic strategists say.
The delta variant surge has significantly changed the president’s calculus on what he is willing to do to reopen the country, including widespread mandates which President Biden had initially said would be unnecessary.
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