Rising COVID infections have EU countries wary of US travelers.
Back in June, the European Union opted to lift its travel restrictions on the United States as COVID-19 vaccines became more widely available and case numbers were starting to decline. However, due to staggering vaccinations and the proliferation of the Delta variant, COVID numbers in the US have begun to tick back up, leaving the EU to ponder reinstating the travel restrictions.
By the current estimates of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country has been roughly 11,000 per 100,000 people. This violates the EU’s criteria for nonessential travel, specifically that the traveler’s point of departure must have less than 75 cases per 100,000 people in a two week span.
That said, the EU does not possess a united governing policy when it comes to the matter of COVID-19 and tourism, so any recommendations it makes to its member nations are only that: recommendations. In the end, it will fall to the individual member nations to decide whether travelers from the US can enter their territory, and what, if any, quarantining and vaccination requirements they will have to fulfill.
