Hours before leaving office, Donald Trump announced that his administration will be lifting Covid-19 travel restrictions for travelers from Europe and Brazil.
In a proclamation on Monday, Trump said the restrictions would be lifted by Jan. 26, but by, then he will no longer be in office and Joe Biden will be president.
Trump’s proclamation said the restrictions would be lifted for Europe and Brazil but leave in place restrictions on travel from Iran and China.
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In the order Trump said he agrees with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar “that this action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from COVID-19 while enabling travel to resume safely.”
But the incoming Biden administration quickly shut down talk of lifting COVID travel restrictions.
“With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel,” Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, tweeted Monday. “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
