EU 'set to exclude Americans from travel' over US failure to contain outbreak

Customers dine outside Dudley's in New York, the United States. Photo / AP

American travellers are set to be barred from travel to European Union countries over the United States' failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to reports.

EU officials are drawing up a list of who can visit the bloc when it begins to reopen on July 1 and the US is currently excluded, the New York Times has reported, citing draft documents.

The US has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks as the country eases out of lockdown, and is now responsible for nearly a third of all new global cases.

The surge in infections in the southern and western parts of the country shows no signs of abating as the country reported 27,465 new infections on Monday.

The US would join countries including Brazil and Russia, which are deemed by the EU to have failed to get a handle on the coronavirus spread.

NEW: Top U.S. health officials, including Fauci, said they haven’t discussed the Covid-19 pandemic with Trump for more than two weeks, a period in which cases have surged in some of the most populous states. https://t.co/qwl470oGHl via @bpolitics

— Kevin Whitelaw (@KevinWhitelaw1) June 23, 2020

The US and Brazil each recorded more than 100,000 cases over the seven days from June 15 to June 21, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, the only two countries with such high infection numbers.

The New York Times called it a "stinging blow to American prestige in the world and a repudiation of President (Donald) Trump's handling of the virus in the United States."

Trump claimed over the weekend that he ordered a slowdown of Covid-19 testing as the high figures were making the US "look bad".

"By having more cases, it sounds bad, but actually what it is, is we're finding people," he told reporters today. "Many of those people aren't sick or very little. You know, they may be young people.

"Here's what I say: Testing is a double-edged sword."

Here's the rate of positivity both in New York State (red) and in the rest of the United States outside of New York (blue). (So the percentage of tests coming back positive.) pic.twitter.com/PFfx0cV5W5

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 23, 2020

Dr Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and top infectious diseases expert, warned in an interview with the Telegraph last week that travel between the UK and the US, which all but halted in mid-March, could remain off-limits for some time.

The ban could last until a vaccine is developed, although it may be before that. He said lifting it would be "more likely months than weeks."

Prohibiting American travellers from entering Europe would have significant economic, cultural and geopolitical ramifications. The move will likely be seen as a snub by the Trump Administration, which could decide to introduce reciprocal measures.

The Administration has already this week suspended new visas for specialist foreign workers in a bid to boost jobs for Americans.