The European Union told member states Monday that they should restrict nonessential travel from unvaccinated Americans due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the U.S.
The bloc eased most restrictions on U.S. travelers ahead of the summer tourism season, but EU diplomats sought a reversal as the delta variant fueled a spike in U.S. infections, and hospitalizations averaged 100,000 for the first time since the winter surge.
The European Council removed the U.S. from the 27-nation bloc’s “safe list” of countries that don’t necessitate restrictions.
Individual countries are free to follow the bloc’s recommendation or impose their own rules.
Restrictions on nonessential travel, or additional testing and quarantine measures, will most likely fall on unvaccinated Americans instead of vaccinated ones.
“Nonessential travel to the EU from countries or entities not listed [on the safe list] is subject to temporary travel restriction,” European Council said. “This is without prejudice to the possibility for member states to lift the temporary restriction on nonessential travel to the EU for fully vaccinated travelers.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki highlighted the burden on the unvaccinated as the administration pushes for more people to get their shots.
“The fastest path to reopening travel is for people to get vaccinated, to mask up and to slow the spread of the deadly virus,” she said.
Countries on the EU safe list are supposed to have fewer than 75 cases per 100,000 people. The U.S. rate is much higher, at 333 per 100,000 over the past week.
The EU also removed Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia from its safe list on Monday.
Europe has been trying to spur tourism after a brutal pandemic.
Many southern European nations rely on foreign visitors to buttress their economies by injecting dollars into medieval or ancient cities and sunny beach towns.
More than 15 million Americans visited Europe each year before the pandemic, according to The Associated Press, which estimates new restrictions could cost European countries billions.
The U.S. did not reciprocate by lifting restrictions on Europeans looking to travel here this summer, raising tensions and causing some to view the EU’s Monday move as retaliatory.
Europe is cracking down on U.S. visitors as hospitals fill to capacity in southern states and federal officials plead with tens of millions of eligible Americans to come forward and lift the nationwide vaccination rate of 52%.
Roughly 1,200 are dying from COVID-19 each day in the U.S., a big increase from the 200 per day in early July but not as bad as the 3,000 daily deaths in mid-January.
The EU’s recommendation doesn’t apply to the United Kingdom, which left the bloc at the start of this year.
Fully vaccinated Americans can travel to Britain without self-isolating upon arrival, though they must submit to testing before and after arrival.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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