The European Union is ready to welcome visitors from 14 countries. However, most Americans have been refused entry for at least another 14 days due to soaring COVID-19 infections across the US, Associated Press reports on Tuesday.
The EU is restarting its summer with a new set of rules. One of the most important decisions is a list of countries whose citizens allowed to visit the bloc.
Citizens from the following countries will be allowed into the EU’s 27 members and four other nations in Europe’s visa-free Schengen travel zone: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.
Actually, visitors from Russia, Brazil and India will miss out so far.
EU’s economy is restarting in post-COVID environment
The nations considered for the safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travellers. The list is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added and some even dropping off depending on whether they are keeping the disease under control.
As Europe’s economies reel from the impact of the COVID-19, Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving worshippers and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries.
Still, many people both inside and outside Europe remain wary of travel in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings. The total chaos in February and March still remains a solid reason to avoid any travel for thousands of people across the globe.
All 27 EU nations hastily slapped restrictions on who could cross their borders in February as the COVID spread in Italy. In mid-March, the Europeans limited all non-essential travel to all bloc member states plus Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
In fact, non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban.
The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January. Britain now requires all incoming travellers – bar a few exceptions like truck drivers – to go into self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks. The requirement also applies to UK citizens.
