The United States, which closed its borders to much of the world as the pandemic took hold, plans eventually to begin allowing fully vaccinated foreigners back in, a White House official said.
President Joe Biden’s administration, recognizing the importance of international travel, wants to reopen to visitors from abroad in a “safe and sustainable manner,” the official said.
It is developing “a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States – from all countries – need to be fully vaccinated,” the official added, without specifying a timeframe.
The plan marks a tentative but significant evolution in the US approach to stemming the outbreak, with Washington stating as recently as July 26 that it would maintain restrictions on international arrivals, sidestepping European pressure.
A working group is developing a “consistent and safe” new system for international entries, the official said, “for when we can reopen travel.”
The United States has restricted travel from the European Union, Britain, China and Iran for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, later adding other countries including Brazil and India.
The European Union in June opened up to travelers from the United States, typically requiring proof of vaccination or negative tests, under pressure from tourism-dependent nations such as Greece, Spain and Italy that feared another troubled year.
The Delta variant has propelled a surge in COVID cases in the United States, overwhelmingly among unvaccinated people.
Meanwhile, Sydney reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases and five virus deaths Thursday, as authorities expanded the lockdown in Australia’s largest city to neighboring regions.
Six weeks after Sydney’s five million residents were told to stay home, the number of new infections in New South Wales state grew to 262, the largest daily tally since the pandemic began.
Health officials said almost all the new cases were in Sydney, but a handful of infections in other districts prompted state premier Gladys Berejiklian to widen stay-at-home restrictions.
Five positive tests in Newcastle – a coastal city of 320,000 people north of Sydney – prompted authorities to shutter schools and tell residents to stay home for at least a week.
Five people aged in their 60s-80s have died in Sydney in the past 24 hours, none of whom were fully vaccinated.
“I cannot stress enough how it’s so important for everybody of all ages to come forward and get the vaccine,” Berejiklian said.
Barely 20 percent of Australians have been fully vaccinated, thanks to acute supply problems and pockets of vaccine hesitancy.
