White House officials announced on July 26 that the U.S. will continue its travel ban as the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe.
The United States currently bars entry by non-U.S. citizens from 33 countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran, Brazil and the 26 Schengen nations in Europe without internal border controls, Reuters reports. The extreme restrictions were first imposed on China in January 2020 to address the spread of the coronavirus, and the other countries have since been added, Reuters said.
India was the latest to be added in May, and last week's announcement declared the ban will remain in place at least for the early part of this month. The U.S. Homeland Security Department said land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed to nonessential travel until at least Aug. 21.
"Given where we are today with the delta variant, we will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told Reuters. "Driven by the delta variant, cases are rising here at home – particularly among those who are unvaccinated – and appear likely to continue to increase in the weeks ahead."
The news was another blow to the travel and tourism industries, particularly U.S. airlines that have been asking the government to lift the bans.
“We’ve been lobbying for a number of months to open corridors between the U.S. and U.K., and Europe and the U.S.,” Delta Air Lines Inc. CEO Ed Bastian said Tuesday, told Fortune. “U.S. travelers who have been vaccinated can go to Europe, and they are. It’s unfortunate we can’t bring Europeans back into our country.”
The delta variant spreads more easily than earlier strains of the coronavirus, health officials say. In the U.S., the variant is responsible for an estimated 83% of cases, the Associated Press reported.
The vaccination rate in the U.S. is 69% among adults who have received at least one vaccination shot, and 60% are fully vaccinated, AP reported. The delta variant has also risen in Europe.