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The spokesperson for the president-elect who will take office on January 20 said controls on Europe and arrivals in Brazil will remain in place.
Spokeswoman for US President-elect Joe Biden quickly dismissed Donald Trump’s announcement on Monday that the COVID-19 ban for travelers arriving from much of Europe and Brazil would be lifted next week , stressing that the new administration listened to medical advice.
The dueling statements highlight the frenzied transition of power just 48 hours before Biden’s inauguration in Washington, DC.
“On the advice of our medical team, the administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on January 26,” Jen Psaki, Biden’s press secretary, tweeted Monday.
“In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures regarding international travel to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
“With the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants emerging around the world, now is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” she added.
Trump signed the order to lift the restrictions he imposed in mid-March last year after gaining support from members of the coronavirus task force and public health officials.
Until Biden acts, Trump’s order ends restrictions on the same day new rules requiring a negative COVID-19 test go into effect for all international visitors to the United States.
The restrictions have barred the entry of almost all non-U.S. Citizens who have stayed in Brazil, the UK, Ireland and the 26 Schengen countries in Europe that allow open borders to be crossed within the 14 days. previous ones.
Since new variants of the virus have appeared, including one in Brazil and one in the United Kingdom, which are significantly more infectious.
Trump refused for months to accept the November 3 election result and denied Biden’s team access to funds and resources. Breaking with tradition, he also did not meet Biden.
Trump is also expected to become the first outgoing president in 152 years not to attend his successor’s inauguration ceremony.
The United States has recorded more than 24 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and has the world’s highest death toll for the virus, with nearly 400,000 dead.
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