General

On August 30, local time, the European Union updated the list of countries and regions where travel restrictions should be lifted.

The EU proposes that from August 30, 2021, member states should gradually remove non-essential travel restrictions for the following countries and regions: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Jordan, New Zealand, Qatar, Moldova, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Ukraine, China, Hong Kong and Macau.

It is worth noting that the new list excludes Israel, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Lebanon, and the United States.

The European Union removes the United States and other six countries from the "safe travel list"

It is reported that on the afternoon of August 30, local time, the European Council held a meeting to decide to remove the United States from the "European Safe Travel List" and recommend that member states re-take anti-epidemic measures on American travelers.

Euronews and the Associated Press stated that this decision was made after assessing the outbreak in the United States.

The United States was removed from the "safety list", screenshot of the European Council website

Delta mutant strains are coming violently, and areas with low inoculation rates in the United States have been "occupied" one after another, and they have been involved in another round of epidemics. At present, the average number of confirmed cases in the United States in 7 days exceeds 150,000, and there are more than 1,000 new deaths every day.

In addition to the United States, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, and North Macedonia have also been removed from the list.

The European Union believes that the current rate of new crown infections in these areas exceeds the threshold, that is, 75 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 14 days.

The "EU Safe Travel List" is updated every two weeks. According to EU epidemic prevention requirements, travelers from the regions on the list can visit most EU countries without isolation as long as the test result is negative.

The U.S. epidemic has rebounded severely, and vaccination progress has stalled

According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 5:21 on August 31, Beijing time, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States reached 39,026,744, and the cumulative number of deaths was 638,604. In the past 24 hours, there have been 234,300 new confirmed cases and 1093 new deaths in the United States.

As early as mid-August, more than 90% of American residents lived in "high" or "substantial" communities. With the surge in infection cases, the number of hospitalizations in many parts of the United States has risen, and medical runs have occurred at the same time.

The delta mutant strain with a high rate of infection is of course the culprit in the new round of the epidemic in the United States. In addition, the low vaccination rate has also become one of the main reasons for the raging epidemic.

According to Euronews.com, in recent months, the vaccination progress in the United States has stagnated and is far behind the European Union. As of now, more than 57% of the EU population has been vaccinated, compared to only 52% in the United States.

The Associated Press mentioned that on June 18 this year, the United States had just been included on the European Union's "safe list", and American tourists were able to travel to European Union countries during the summer tourist season. But at the same time, the United States still does not allow European citizens to visit freely.

The number of cases in the United States has surged, with the vaccination rate being only 52%. Picture from "New York Times"

Deletion from the "safe list" means that non-essential travel is again restricted, such as testing, quarantine, or outright bans. However, the recommendations from the European Council are not mandatory, and member states have the right to unilaterally decide whether to keep their borders open to U.S. travelers.

Euronews said that some European countries that rely heavily on tourism, including Greece, have more relaxed restrictions on travelers, as long as they can show a vaccination certificate or a negative test result to enter the country.