Tourists at the White House in Washington. According to the US Tourism Association, blocking the flow of travelers from Europe and Canada, the United States loses $ 1.5 billion a week.
Photo: Saul Loeb / AFP / Scanpix / LETA
Viesturs Sprūde, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
The United States does not intend to abandon entry restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic in the near future and will not open borders to travelers from Europe and other parts of the world, causing disappointment for many Europeans.
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This is due to concerns about the highly contagious variant of the Covid-19 delta, which, especially among the unvaccinated, is on the rise again in both the US and Europe, and the number of infections is expected to jump sharply in the coming weeks.
The rigidity of the White House
Psaki admitted that the delta version of Covid-19 already dominates the United States, but this is not a reason to allow more people who could be carriers of this type of virus to enter the country.
Asked by journalists how long the entry ban could last, a White House spokeswoman said: “Nothing is unlimited.” The administration does not currently have a set deadline.
Major airlines and tourism groups in both the United States and Western Europe have spoken out against lifting the travel ban, lobbying the issue in Washington for months. At first, entrepreneurs were hoping to save the summer season, now hoping for change in September.
The US media reported on the government’s talks with US airlines on an international tracking system that would allow the passenger to find his way to the United States.
This could possibly be one of the preconditions for lifting the travel ban.
The US Tourism Association, which takes care of the reception of travelers, is convinced that the reception of guests from countries where vaccinations have been successful would be perfectly permissible.
The association estimates that restoring the flow would provide jobs for about 10,000 Americans. Critics of the Baiden administration have also been criticized by those whose family members live in the United States and who have not been able to meet for a long time due to the ban.
In this regard, the White House has expressed its understanding of the desire to reunite families. At the same time, no parameters have been mentioned on which the government could decide to resume travel.
It is also unclear whether the lifting of the ban could be allowed for certain countries or groups of individuals.
It is known that consultations and discussions are taking place at the level of the White House on the development of a list of vaccines with which vaccinated travelers could be admitted to the country in the future, but this is only at the level of ideas.
The United States has been closed to most of the world’s population since the beginning of 2020, when President Donald Trump declared an entry ban not only from the European Union, but also from Britain, India, China, Brazil, South Africa and other countries.
Exceptions are allowed only for journalists, students and entrepreneurs. In January of this year, shortly before the end of his term of office, Trump lifted the ban on Europeans, but when Baiden arrived, the order did not enter into force.
The US-Canada border has been closed to non-essential travel since mid-March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Canadian government has announced that it will open its border to U.S. citizens and residents fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from August 9, and from September 7, Canadians will open their border to all vaccinated foreign travelers.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security has said that, despite Ottawa’s gesture, the ban on non-essential travel from Canada and Mexico will remain in place until at least August 21.
Delta is attacking
In Europe, the American position has disappointed many. Back in June, EU leadership urged member states to phase out restrictions on immigrants, including the US. Many Member States, such as Germany, have already done so.
On July 15, during the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Washington, US President Biden raised hopes, promising Merkel a solution in the coming days. It is true that Merkel at the time understood that such a decision must have a long-term effect and it would not be right to revoke it after a few days.
Germany is particularly sensitive. Large German companies own many factories in the United States, employing hundreds of thousands of workers.
Peter Bayier, the German government’s transatlantic coordinator, said Americans should understand: “If [darbinieku] exchanges will no longer take place, US jobs will suffer. “
However, according to Reuters, the decision not to drop the barriers was made at a high-level meeting at the White House last Friday.
Since mid-July, the situation with the Covid-19 has indeed worsened due to the US delta option.
Rochelle Valenskaya, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday that the number of new infections in the country is up 53% in a week. 83% of them are in the delta variant.
Mortality from Covid-19 increased by 17% during the week. Fearing a new strain of coronavirus, Americans were advised not to visit Britain a few weeks ago, where it is particularly common.
Spain and Portugal have been added to the list of non-recommended countries this week. Americans are also not diligent about vaccination – less than half of the country’s population has received the full vaccine dose, but 25-30% of the population have decided not to vaccinate, no matter what.
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