- On Tuesday, the European Union officially banned Americans from traveling to its member states as coronavirus cases in the United States continue to rise.
- The United States is among dozens of countries excluded from a list of safe countries whose citizens can travel to Europe once it reopens its borders on Wednesday.
- Countries on the safe list include Australia, Canada, and South Korea.
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European Union officials finalized on Tuesday and released a list of 15 countries that will be allowed to visit residents when their borders are reopened on Wednesday.
The United States is not included, effectively preventing Americans from visiting much of Europe for the foreseeable future.
The United States is among dozens of countries considered too risky because its coronavirus outbreaks are poorly contained.
The complete list of safe countries, which is based on residence, not nationality, includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. ; China will also be included as long as it allows visitors from the European Union.
Although the list is based on objective epidemiological criteria, according to European officials, the exclusion of the United States represents a major blow to the image of the United States on the global stage and undermines claims by the Trump administration that the outbreak of the United States United is under control.
The United States has reported more than 2.5 million coronavirus cases and 126,000 deaths, more than any other country.
While EU member states will not be legally required to abide by the list, those who were unable to see other states close their borders to them, which would inhibit their participation in the EU’s economic recovery.
In early March, the Trump administration banned travel to the United States from much of Europe, citing outbreaks in Italy, Germany, and other parts of the EU. The ban has not been lifted, despite the fact that Europe has largely contained its outbreaks.
The closure of the EU border, which occurred later in March, applied to visitors from most countries outside the bloc, not specifically to Americans.
Portugal and Sweden, both members of the EU, still have serious outbreaks, as does Britain, which is considered a member of the bloc until the end of the year. However, those countries individually have fewer cases than the US, as does the EU overall.
Authorities said the safe list would be reviewed every two weeks and would include countries with new case rates that are equal to or lower than those in the EU. The main benchmark is the average number of new EU infections per 100,000 people in the last two weeks. In mid-June, that number was 16 for the EU and 107 for the US, according to The New York Times.
Other criteria will include stable or declining new case trends over the past two weeks, and the overall public health response and reliability of officials’ reports in each country, the European Union said.
The EU said exceptions would be granted for essential workers, including health workers and diplomats, as well as for students, asylum seekers, people with family emergencies and others.
Banning American travelers will have significant consequences for the EU. Millions of American tourists visit countries in the block each year. As travel demand picks up and Americans seek to venture abroad again, and tourism-dependent economies seek to stem the consequences of the pandemic, the exclusion of a large and lucrative group of tourists could be detrimental.
Some countries with economies that rely heavily on tourism are expected to allow more foreigners by implementing health screening protocols for arriving visitors.
Similarly, European leisure travelers spend millions in the United States each year. The United States could retaliate against its travel ban from Europe.
