US to ease curbs for vaccinated travellers
WH announced that controls will be lifted in Nov, but did not say which vaccines the country would accept
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will ease foreign travel restrictions into the US beginning in November and allow foreign nationals into the country if they have proof of vaccination and a negative Covid-19 test, the White House said on Monday.
The new rules replace a hodgepodge of restrictions that had barred non-citizens who had been in certain countries in the prior 14 days from entering the US. It would allow families and others who have been separated by the travel restrictions for 18 months to plan for longawaited reunifications.
White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced the new policies, which will require all foreign travellers flying to the US to demonstrate proof of vaccination before boarding, as well as proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within three days of flight. Biden will also tighten testing rules for unvaccinated American citizens, who will need to be tested within a day before returning to the US, as well as after they arrive home.
Fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to quarantine, Zients said.
The easing comes ahead of Biden meeting with some European leaders on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly this week. “This is based on individuals rather than a country based approach, so it’s a stronger system,” Zients said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will also require airlines to collect contact information from international travellers to facilitate contact tracing, Zients said.
It was not immediately clear which vaccines would be acceptable under the US-system and whether those unapproved in the US could be used. Zients said that decision would be up to the CDC. The new policy will take effect in “early November”, Zients said, to allow airlines and travel partners time to prepare to implement the new protocols.
Unvaccinated Bolsonaro eats pizza on NY sidewalk
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ate pizza on the sidewalk in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly, likely because he doesn’t meet the city’s Covid-19 vaccine requirements for indoor dining. The Big Apple currently requires anyone wanting to eat inside to provide proof of at least one shot and Bolsonaro says he is not vaccinated.
“Luxury dinner in New York,” tweeted Brazil’s secretariat minister Luiz Eduardo Ramos alongside a photo of Bolsonaro enjoying a slice outside with several members of his delegation.
Covid has killed as many Americans as Spanish flu
Covid-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did approximately 675,000.
The country’s overall toll stood at close to 674,000 as of Monday morning, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, though the real number is believed to be higher. The University of Washington model projects an additional 100,000 or so Americans will die of Covid-19 by January 1.
The 1918-19 pandemic killed an estimated 675,000 Americans in a US population one-third the size of what it is today. It struck down 50 million victims globally at a time when the world had one-quarter as many people as it does now. Global deaths from Covid now stand at more than 4.6 million.