By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is creating a “new system for international travel” that will incorporate contact tracing once it eases travel restrictions currently preventing much of the global population from entering the country, according to a senior White House official on Wednesday.
Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, informed the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board that the administration does not intend to relax any travel restrictions immediately, citing concerns over COVID-19 Delta variant cases within the United States and globally.
Earlier in August, Reuters reported that the White House was designing vaccine entry requirements that may apply to nearly all foreign travelers. The administration has already indicated its intention to mandate vaccinations for international visitors coming to the U.S.
“The American people need to be assured that the new system for international travel will be safer, even as we start allowing more travelers to come in,” Zients stated on Wednesday, indicating that the new system would eventually supersede existing restrictions.
“We are examining potential vaccination requirements for foreign nationals traveling to the United States,” Zients added.
During the same meeting, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo commented that the current rise in COVID-19 cases hinders the ability to lift international travel restrictions. “We aim to move towards a metrics-based system,” she said. “Before we can achieve that, we need to gain better control of the domestic situation, which means vaccinating more people.”
Zients emphasized that the new plan would replace the current restrictions and be “safer, stronger, and sustainable.” However, he did not specify the criteria for when the administration might consider easing restrictions.
“Vaccination rates are significant both in the U.S. and in other countries,” Zients remarked, encouraging travel companies, including airlines, to quickly implement employee vaccination mandates.
Some industry experts are concerned that the Biden administration may not lift travel restrictions for several months, possibly extending into 2022.
The rigorous U.S. travel restrictions were initially instituted for China in January 2020 as a response to COVID-19’s spread. Since then, many additional countries have been added to the list, with India being the most recent addition in May.
The administration is eager to lift travel restrictions “as soon as it’s feasible,” Zients asserted.
CONTACT TRACING
Zients explained that the new system will involve collecting contact tracing data from incoming passengers, enabling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reach out to travelers who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
The previous Trump administration had blocked attempts to require airlines to collect contact tracing information from international passengers arriving in the U.S., citing privacy concerns from some senior officials.
Zients affirmed the administration’s commitment to having the new system “ready to go” when it’s safe to lift restrictions. “We understand the importance of this,” he stated.
Currently, the United States prohibits most non-U.S. citizens who have been in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen Area countries in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran, and Brazil within the past 14 days from entering the country.
Additionally, non-essential travel by most non-U.S. citizens is restricted at land borders with Mexico and Canada.
Critics argue that the travel restrictions are no longer rational, as some countries with significant COVID-19 case rates are not on the banned list, while some countries on the list have managed to control the pandemic effectively.
(This story has been updated to correct a spelling error in the headline.)
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Bernadette Baum, and Aurora Ellis)
