Things continue to change in regard to the global pandemic.

Indoor Mask Sign

Indoor mask recommendations are back, mask and vaccination requirements have been seen in select locations around the U.S., and new case numbers have broken records in places like Florida. Now, there is an update on international travel for tourists from the United States.

The European Union recommended that its 27 national reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. due to rising COVID-19 cases in the country, according to NBC News.

International travel is changing

The European Council removed the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel. This reverses advice said in June, when they recommended lifting the restrictions on U.S. travelers in time for summer tourists. Travelers from the U.S. should expect different travel rules across Europe, even though the guidance is nonbonding.

Orlando International Airport

“Nonessential travel to the E.U. from countries or entities not listed (…) is subject to temporary travel restriction. This is without prejudice to the possibility for member states to lift the temporary restriction on nonessential travel to the E.U. for fully vaccinated travelers.” the council said in a statement, according to NBC News.

Orlando International Airport

The European Union does not have a unified COVID-19 policy for tourism and the individual nations have the authority to decide on keeping their countries open to U.S. tourists or not. Quarantines, further testing requirements, or a total ban on all nonessential travel from the U.S. could all be possible restrictions.

You may not be flying to Europe any time soon

Remember, this recommendation does not apply to Great Britain, as they left the E.U. in 2020 and opened their borders to fully vaccinated U.S. travelers earlier this month.

Almost like we’re actually in the U.K.

However, the U.S. does remain on Britain’s “amber” travel list, which means fully vaccinated adults from the U.S. don’t have to self-isolate once they arrive, but a COVID-19 test is required 3 days before arriving in the U.K. and another test is required 2 days after arriving.

U.K Pavilion EPCOT

The E.U. updates the safe travel list based on criteria relating to COVID-19 infection levels and it’s reviewed every 2 weeks. A country must not have more than 75 new cases per 100,000 people over the last 14 days to remain on the safe travel list.

View from a plane

Last week, the United States averaged over 152,000 new COVID-19 cases a day and the number of hospitalized patients due to the virus was around 85,000. For several days, COVID-19 deaths have been over 1,200 a day, which is 7 times higher than they were in early July.

Entrance Mask Sign

The United States has not reopened its borders to European Union tourists. Stay tuned to DFB for more updates.

Click here to see the vaccination requirement for upcoming Disney cruises

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