Trump Issues Proclamation Lifting Travel Restrictions on Schengen Area, UK, Ireland, and Brazil

This step was taken in coordination with the Ministry of Health and takes into account the order dated January 12, which requires those entering the United States to test negative for the coronavirus, the proclamation says.

The outgoing US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Monday to lift the travel ban on the countries of Europe, including the UK, starting from January 26.

The order lifts the restrictions imposed last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also permits travel from Brazil.

Nevertheless, the proclamation left in place travel restrictions on China and Iran, according to the released document.

“This cooperation stands in stark contrast to the behavior of the governments and state-owned enterprises of the People’s Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which repeatedly have failed to cooperate with the United States public health authorities and to share timely, accurate information about the spread of the virus,” the proclamation reads.

Earlier in the day, Trump issued another executive order aiming to alleviate regulatory burdens on Americans by ensuring that they are fully aware of potential criminal liability for violations of regulations.

Meanwhile, the spokeswoman for Biden’s transition team, Jen Psaki, issued a statement on Twitter, saying that the next US president does not plan to lift any travel restrictions given the rising number of COVID-19 infections.

Media earlier reported that for the majority of non-US citizens who have recently visited Brazil and several European countries, Trump will cancel entry bans imposed due to COVID-19.

The restrictions were lifted against the background of the pandemic continuing unabated both in the USA and in Europe, with the daily infection rate remaining at a high level, as according to the most recent data from Johns Hopkins University, the US has seen a total of more than 24 million people infected since the start of the pandemic, and the overall death toll stands at 398,000.

Brazil is ranked second with respect to the total number of deaths from COVID-19, which currently stands at more than 209,000, while the country also has more than 8.4 million confirmed cases.

The pandemic is far from its end also due to the discovery of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus in the UK at the end of last year, described as being 70% more transmissible than the original virus. And last week the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the new strain, which has already been discovered in the US, may become the dominant variant of the virus in the country as late as March.

Sourse: sputniknews.com