UK Government Urges White House To Ease Travel Ban
The British government is persuading the Trump administration to either lift or ease travel restrictions that bar people in the United Kingdom from traveling to the U.S. The aforesaid restriction was placed in a bid to restrict the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The White House is currently considering lifting travel bans restricting entry to non-citizens who were recently in any one of the 29 countries. Still, U.K. officials have talked to the White House and Cabinet while the decision-making process continues.
Restarting transatlantic flights is important as far as the economic recovery of both the U.K. and the United States is concerned, a spokeswoman for the U.K. Department for Transport told Reuters. Aside from that, it is also of critical importance for the airline industry and British nationals, most of whom have been restricted from entering the U.S.
British officials are leaving no stone unturned in their attempt to resolve this issue, the spokeswoman said. The U.K. Department for Transport and the British Embassy have refrained from divulging more details about their efforts.
On Nov. 25, Reuters reported that the White House was planning to cancel entry bans for a slew of non-U.S. citizens, who were recently in Ireland, Britain, Brazil, and 26 other European countries. There has been no decision by Trump, despite UK officials holding a series of high-level talks with Cabinet and White House officials, according to LiveMint.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other allies of the president have encouraged the White House to lift or ease the travel restrictions to improve America's flagging tourism economy. Whether or not to allow more people into the country has been a difficult decision to make due to high levels of coronavirus cases in Europe.
The aforesaid restrictions were placed back in Mar. in the wake of the pandemic's first wave and restrict the entry of any non-citizen who was in any of the 29 countries for the last two weeks from traveling to America. All of Europe has virtually banned U.S. travelers, while the U.K. allows American travelers to undergo a two-week quarantine upon arrival, The Hill reported.
The British have hinted at the possibility of using testing to create a flight bubble between London and New York or easing travel restrictions for those who have been vaccinated. The CDC's new travel and testing recommendations for international air travelers require them to get tested with a viral test 1-3 days before their flight to prevent the virus's spread during travel.