PANDEMIC

Biden to renew travel restrictions on EU, Britain and Brazil

President Joe Biden delivers a speech after being sworn in during his inauguration. Photo: Europa Press/dpa.
The administration plans to renew the travel restrictions, which former President Donald Trump ordered to end on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden's administration plans to renew travel restrictions on Monday for most non-citizens who have recently been in the European Union, Britain, Ireland and Brazil, a White House official confirmed.

Along with extending travel restrictions the White House has imposed restrictions on people who have been in South Africa, where a new variant of the coronavirus has caused concern among scientists, the official confirmed.

The White House already said that the administration plans to renew the travel restrictions, which former President Donald Trump ordered to end on Tuesday.

New variants

"With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel," Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary tweeted earlier this week.

"On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on [January 26]. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of Covid-19," Psaki added.