EU backs restoring restrictions for U.S. tourists

BRUSSELS — The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infections there, but member countries will keep the option of letting fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in.

The decision by the European Council to remove the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel reverses the advice that it gave in June, when the bloc recommended lifting restrictions on all U.S. travelers before the summer tourism season.

The EU’s decision reflects growing anxiety that the rampant spread of the virus in the U.S. could jump to Europe. Both the EU and the U.S. have faced rising infections this summer, driven by the more contagious delta variant.

The guidance issued Monday is nonbinding, however. American tourists should expect a mishmash of travel rules across the continent since the EU has no unified covid-19 tourism policy and national EU governments have the authority to decide whether or how they keep their borders open during the pandemic.

More than 15 million Americans a year visited Europe before the coronavirus crisis, and new travel restrictions could cost European businesses billions in lost travel revenue, especially in tourism-reliant countries like Croatia, which has been surprised by packed beaches and hotels this summer.

“Nonessential travel to the EU from countries or entities not listed (on the safe list) … is subject to temporary travel restriction,” the 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.”

U.S. travelers would have to be immunized with one of the vaccines approved by the bloc, which includes Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Possible restrictions on U.S. travelers could include quarantines, further testing requirements upon arrival or even a total ban on nonessential travel from the U.S.

In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stressed Monday that the EU travel restrictions applied to the unvaccinated, adding that “the fastest path to reopening travel is for people to get vaccinated, to mask up and slow the spread of the deadly virus.”

Psaki told reporters that the U.S. government is working across federal agencies to develop its own policy for international travel, with the possibility of strengthening testing protocols and potentially ensuring that foreign visitors are fully vaccinated. But she said no final decision has been made.

The EU recommendation doesn’t apply to Britain, which left the EU at the beginning of the year and opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. earlier this month.

The United States remains on Britain’s “amber” travel list, meaning that fully vaccinated adults arriving from the U.S. to the U.K. don’t have to self-isolate. A negative covid-19 test within three days before arriving in the U.K. is required and another negative test is needed two days after arriving.

The EU also removed Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia from the safe travel list Monday.

Meanwhile, the United States has yet to reopen its own borders to EU tourists, despite calls from the bloc to do so. Adalbert Jahnz, the European Commission spokesperson for home affairs, said Monday that the EU’s executive arm remained in discussions with the Biden administration but so far both sides have failed to find a reciprocal approach.

In addition to the epidemiological criteria, the European Council said “reciprocity should also be taken into account on a case-by-case basis.”

The European Council updates the safe travel list every two weeks. The threshold for being on the EU safe list is having not more than 75 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days.

The U.S. is averaging more than 155,000 new coronavirus cases and 1,200 deaths per day, and several U.S. states have more covid-19 patients in the hospital now than at any other time during the pandemic.

Authorities in Oregon are seeking extra refrigerated trucks because morgues are at capacity and Florida is in a similar situation after a week in which more than 1,700 people died from the virus. Hospitals are running out of staff in several states, and the start of the school year has brought even more fear that the outlook will worsen as millions of unvaccinated students return to classrooms.

U.S. school districts have been struggling over whether to impose mask mandates, sometimes even suing in states where officials oppose such requirements.

Vaccine hesitancy also remains a problem in many locations in the U.S., where 61% of the eligible population is inoculated. In contrast, Britain has fully vaccinated more than 78% of adults and EU countries have inoculated nearly 70% of those older than 18.

PUERTO RICO RESTRICTIONS

In Puerto Rico, meanwhile, the governor Monday announced new restrictions to fight a rise in cases, including closing some private businesses and banning alcohol sales after midnight.

Social activities such as concerts, weddings, birthdays and anniversaries also will be banned during those hours, and people will be required to wear masks outside if there is a crowd of 50 or more. In addition, elective surgeries that require the use of intensive-care units will be prohibited.

The measures will be in effect Thursday through Sept. 23 and affect businesses including restaurants and theaters.

“We’re on the right track, but there was no alternative,” Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said, referring to a recent spike in cases and deaths blamed largely on the delta variant.

The announcement comes on the same day that people in the U.S. territory are required to start showing proof of vaccination to enter gyms, casinos, beauty salons and other places. In addition, employees at supermarkets are required to show proof of vaccination as of Monday.

The island of 3.3 million people is reporting a 10% positivity rate, compared with a 1.4% rate reported in late June, a number that Pierluisi called “unacceptable.”

Earlier this month, the governor announced that he would require public workers, government contractors, hotel guests and staff, employees of restaurants and other enclosed places that serve food or drinks to to get vaccinated. On Monday, he said he would continue pushing.

“Getting vaccinated is an act of citizen responsibility,” he said.

Puerto Rico has reported more than 141,500 confirmed cases and more than 2,800 deaths. More than 2 million people are fully vaccinated.

Pierluisi noted that nearly 70% of those currently hospitalized and nearly 90% of those who have died are not vaccinated.