EU to recommend reinstating Covid-related travel restrictions on US, reports say

(CNN) – The European Union is expected to recommend on Monday that member states reinstate Covid-related travel restrictions and halt nonessential travel from the United States and five other countries, a diplomatic source told CNN on Monday. The EU would reestablish coronavirus travel restrictions such as quarantine and testing requirements for unvaccinated travelers from those countries, according to the source. Other countries to be removed from the safe travel list would be Kosovo, Israel, Montenegro, Lebanon and North Macedonia, the diplomat said. The decision to renew EU travel restrictions would become final on Monday should no EU country object, the source told CNN, confirming other media reports. The European Council, the EU’s governing body, recommended that the bloc lift restrictions on nonessential travel from 14 countries, including the US, in June. However, Covid-19 cases in the United States have surged in recent weeks, as the highly infectious Delta variant spreads among unvaccinated Americans. Covid-19 cases among children are also hitting levels not seen since winter. “What is going on now is both entirely predictable, but entirely preventable. And you know we know we have the wherewithal with vaccines to turn this around,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious diseases expert. “We could turn this around and we could do it efficiently and quickly if we just get those people vaccinated.” Studies have shown that full vaccination is necessary for optimal protection against the Delta variant.