As the European Union pushes ahead with plans to reopen to international travel on 1 July, Brussels is reportedly tossing up extending a ban against passengers travelling from the US.
According to an article in the New York Times, EU officials are currently deciding between two draft lists of countries that will be permitted to enter.
The paper claims to have reviewed the lists – and while countries like China, Uganda, Cuba and Vietnam reportedly all made the cut, both drafts excluded the US.
The news comes as a stinging admonishment of US pandemic policy, which has seen positive cases climb to 2.3 million cases in the country as of Tuesday afternoon. Brazil, on the other hand, sits at 1.1 million cases, while Russia counts 600,000.
Inbound travel from all three countries is deemed unsafe according to a set of epidemiological criteria the EU has been relying on to analyse countries. The primary metric is a measure of the average number of new cases per 100,000 people over the past fortnight.
The final proposed list is expected to be tabled before European Parliament ahead of 1 July.
European lawmakers are counting on the motion receiving unanimous support among the 27-strong Schengen bloc, to ensure common border policy.
Some officials have hinted that failure to pass the proposal may result in the reintroduction of internal borders, to prevent travellers from entering countries with softer border restrictions before travelling to more restrictive nations overland.
