The USA are daring a long overdue step: The entry bans for Europeans and other countries of origin imposed due to the pandemic are being relaxed. Fully immunized foreigners should therefore be able to cross the border again without any restrictions from November.

CoV coordinator Jeffrey Zients confirmed this on Monday. The US government is lifting an entry restriction that the elected President Donald Trump had issued 18 months ago as a result of the pandemic. Trump briefly lifted the rule in January before the new White House boss Joe Biden put it back into effect. The regulations still in force prohibit entry for people without a US passport or green card and their family members if they have stayed in the Schengen area, Ireland or Great Britain in the 14 days prior to entry. Entry bans also apply to China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Iran.

The European Union also responded to the news with satisfaction: "This is a long-awaited step for separated families and friends and good news for the economy," announced the EU Commission on Monday. EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton described the measure as a "logical decision given the success of our EU vaccination campaign".