The European Union Council will on Monday announce its decision to remove a total of six countries, including Lebanon, the US, and Israel, from its green list for safe travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, two EU officials have confirmed to Reuters.
Latest: EU imposes COVID-19 travel ban on ‘non-essential’ travel from US, Lebanon, and Israel
Schengen Visa Info said that the removal from the list means that the Member States are advised to reimpose the entry ban on travelers from these countries so that they are no longer eligible to enter restriction-free for non-essential purposes like tourism and business.
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According to Reuters, the decision on reimposing the entry ban on US travelers was taken on Friday, August 27, but it will be officially announced on Monday, August 30.
All countries affected have recently reported an increasing number of COVID-19 cases detected within their territory.
Lebanon has recently reported an increase in COVID-19 cases following the delta variant outbreak. The small nation has vaccinated only about 30 percent of its population.
In the US, which is home to 328.2 million residents, a total of 38,158,495 cases have been detected since the beginning of the pandemic, 169,512 of which within the last 24 hours, data by the World Health Organization reveals.
Whereas Israel, which has so far vaccinated about 80 percent of its 9.053 million population, has recorded 8,078 cases within the last 24 hours, bringing the number of infected persons since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,031,810.
The complete list of the countries affected also includes Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
Due to the increase in the number of cases, SchengenVisaInfo.com had reported for days now that the entry ban on Americans traveling to the EU for non-essential purposes would be brought back.
The EU’s list of safe countries includes non-EU/EEA countries that are considered safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to the low rates of infections. EU Member States are advised to reopen their borders for non-essential travelers from these areas.
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