Families, students and tourists hoping President Joe Biden will announce that the United States is dropping travel restrictions on the United Kingdom and European countries will have to wait a little longer.
Biden is not expected to relax restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic during a trip to Europe that starts this week, multiple people in contact with senior U.S. officials said. An official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that changes to the policy are not imminent.
Instead, the White House says it will launch working groups led by its COVID-19 Response Team and the National Security Council that will create roadmaps for safe reopening of international travel. Officials from the CDC and the departments of State, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and Transportation will also participate.
“While we are not reopening international travel today, we hope that these expert working groups will help us use our collective expertise to chart a path forward, with a goal of reopening international travel with our key partners when it is determined that it is safe to do so,” a White House official told McClatchy in a statement.