Pascal Arogorn Ibe
US President – elect Joe Biden ’ s spokeswoman quickly dismissed Donald Trump’ s announcement Monday that a Covid-19 ban on travelers arriving from much of Europe and Brazil would be lifted , underlining the fractious transition of power .
“ On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26, ” tweeted Jen Psaki , Biden ’ s press secretary .
“ In fact , we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID -19. ”
“ With the pandemic worsening , and more contagious variants emerging around the world , this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel , ” she added .
Just minutes prior to Psaki ’ s tweet , President Trump said he would lift the travel ban on Europe and Brazil , although travel bans for China and Iran would remain in place . “ This action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from COVID -19 while enabling travel to resume safely , ” he said in a statement released by the White House .
Trump had announced an initial ban on January 31, 2020 on non – American travelers entering from China to stop the spread of the coronavirus . The ban was extended to European countries on March 14, the US shutting itself off from the world as the pandemic entered full force .
Both Biden and Trump’ s statements come days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that all air passengers bound for the US will be required to test negative for Covid -19 within three days of their departure .
The test policy will take effect on January 26, and expands on a previous testing rule that targeted Britain and came into effect in December , following the emergence of a coronavirus variant believed to be more transmissible .
Some epidemiologists have warned it is likely that new , more transmissible variants are already establishing themselves in the United States , the hardest -hit country in the world by the pandemic .
Biden will be inaugurated on Wednesday, after a rocky handover of power and in the midst of an alarming surge of Covid-19 cases in the US.
Trump for months had refused to accept the outcome of the November 3 election , baselessly insisting the vote had been rigged and ignoring court rulings to the contrary , leaving the country seething with division and anger .
He denied Biden ’ s team access to funds and resources and still has not congratulated Biden or invited him for the traditional tea visit in the Oval Office ,
Instead, Trump has remained largely out of the public eye since his supporters rampaged through Congress on January 6, triggering his historic second impeachment a week later .
Trump is also set to become the first outgoing president in 152 years not to join his successor at the inauguration ceremony .
As of Monday , the US had recorded more than 24 million cases of Covid-19, with nearly 400, 000 deaths.
( AFP)
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