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The European Union updated its allowed countries list on Thursday July, 30th and once again has left Americans off the list for the second time, as Covid-19 cases continue to soar in the United States.
The EU lifted temporary restrictions on non-essential travel for over a dozen countries on July 1st but the United States was absent.
Every two weeks, the EU now reviews the list and makes updates as necessary to add or remove countries based on epidemiological factors.
Here are the factors the European Union uses to decide which countries are on the list:
- Number of new Covid-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100,000 inhabitants close to or below the EU average (as it stood on June 15)
- Stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days
- The countries' overall response to Covid-19 taking into account available information, including on aspects such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting, as well as the reliability of the information
The U.S. was left off of the initial list on July 1st, 2020 and has since failed to make the cut twice as the country struggles to keep up with the EU in its containment of the coronavirus, reporting more than 4.5 million confirmed cases as of Friday morning.
As of Thursday's update, the list of countries approved for travel to the EU include Australia; Canada; Georgia; Japan; Morocco; New Zealand; Rwanda; South Korea; Thailand; Tunisia; Uruguay and China (subject to confirmation of reciprocity).
Montenegro and Serbia were included in the initial list but have been left off following the last two updates. In the most recent update, Albania was removed from the allowed country list as well.
According to Travel Pulse, Some people are exempt from the current restrictions, including EU citizens and their family members; long-term residents and their family members in the EU and essential travelers or those whose trip is deemed absolutely necessary.
The next update to the EU's allowed country list is expected to be published on or around Thursday August 13th and every two weeks after.
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