The European Union will recommend reimposing restrictions on US travelers

Diplomats from the European Union said, today, Monday, that the European Union intends to recommend its member states to re-activate restrictions imposed on tourists from the United States due to the increase in the infection rate in the country.

The decision to remove the US from the list of safe countries for non-essential travel would overturn a June recommendation, when the 27-nation bloc proposed lifting restrictions on travelers to the US ahead of the summer tourism season.

The change may be proposed this week, according to EU diplomats. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the review process is still open.

However, any decision will be non-binding. The European Union does not have a uniform tourism policy for COVID-19, and national governments have the power to decide whether to keep their borders open to American tourists.

The Council of Europe is updating the list in accordance with the criteria related to the levels of infection with the Coronavirus. It is checked every two weeks.

The criteria for entry to the European list is that there have been no more than 75 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents in the last 14 days. Coronavirus cases have risen in recent weeks in the United States, with more than 1,100 cases recorded daily, the highest number since mid-March.

Last week, an average of 152,000 cases were recorded per day, a level not seen since January. The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus has reached 85,000, which is unheard of since the beginning of February.