Canadians will be allowed to visit EU

The European Union has formally agreed to a set of recommendations that will allow travellers from outside the bloc to visit EU countries, months after it shut its external borders in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. As had been widely expected, the list of 14 countries does not include the United States, whose current infection rate does not meet the criteria set by the EU for it to be considered a “safe country.”

The criteria requires that confirmed COVID-19 cases in countries on the list are similar or below that of the EU’s per 100,000 citizens over the previous 14 days (starting from June 15). Countries must also have a “stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days,” while the EU will consider what measures countries are taking, such as contact tracing, and how reliable each nation’s data is. The U.S. has not only the highest number of reported coronavirus infections of any nation, currently 2,590,582, but also the highest number of deaths, at 126,141, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

Earlier this week, it was reported that at least 16 U.S. states were halting plans to reopen, as reported COVID-19 infections surged across the country.

The European Union list is expected to be reviewed every two weeks, however, EU diplomats were eager to stress on Tuesday that it was “highly unlikely” the criteria for inclusion would be altered.