BRUSSELS: European Union governments agreed on Monday to remove the United States from the EU's safe travel list, meaning US visitors and those from five other countries are likely to face tighter controls, such as COVID-19 tests and quarantines.
Already some EU countries, such as Germany and Belgium, categorise the United States as red, requiring tests and quarantines, while for neighbours France and the Netherlands, the United States is classified as safe. Average daily US COVID-19 cases have risen to more than 450 per million people in the week to Aug 28, compared with below 40 in mid-June when the European Union added the United States to its list, figures from Our World in Data show.The EU safe list now comprises 17 countries, including Canada, Japan and New Zealand.