EU takes US off safe travel list; backs travel restrictions

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has recommended that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infections there, but EU nations can still allow fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in if they want. The decision by the European Council to remove the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel reverses its advice in June, when the bloc recommended lifting restrictions on U.S. travelers before the summer tourism season. The guidance is nonbinding, though, and U.S. travelers should expect a mishmash of travel rules across the continent. Coronavirus deaths have surged in the U.S. recently, rising to over 1,200 a day, and new daily cases are over 150,000 a day.