Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

EU to ease restrictions on travellers from US, Hong Kong, Taiwan

EU to ease restrictions on travellers from US, Hong Kong, Taiwan

The EU has added the US and eight other territories to its white list, ahead of the busy summer holiday season.

The European Union (EU) on Wednesday agreed to lift coronavirus restrictions for travellers from the US and several other places, as Western countries move towards a return to pre-pandemic life.

The United States was among eight countries and territories added to a EU white list, exempting them from the Covid-19 travel ban ahead of the busy summer holiday season critical to the economies of many member nations.

EU states can still choose to require travellers from these areas to undergo Covid-19 testing or to observe periods in quarantine, but once the new list is approved, the recommendation is that they should be exempted from a blanket travel ban that the bloc imposed in March 2020.

The other countries and regions added to the white list on Wednesday were Albania, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, North Macedonia, Serbia and Taiwan, officials and diplomats said.

France meanwhile said that masks would no longer be required outdoors from Thursday and that an unpopular Covid-19 curfew would be scrapped on June 20, 10 days earlier than initially planned, thanks to falling infections.

“The health situation of our country is improving faster than we expected,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex.

Europe’s move came a day after Covid-19 restrictions were dropped from sea to sea in the US, with New York City and the state of California lifting nearly all curbs.

The lifts came as the national Covid-19 death toll in the US topped 600,000 – the largest in the world by far, ahead of hard-hit Brazil and India.

After a much-criticised early response to the pandemic, the US has since organised one of the world’s most effective immunisation drives.

“We have hit 70 per cent vaccination,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday as he announced the lifting of curbs. “It means that we can now return to life as we know it.”

Across the US, Governor Gavin Newsom told Californians that they could ditch their masks nearly everywhere, except for schools, hospitals and public transport. “Finally we are here, to turn the page … to move beyond social distancing and physical distancing.”

But in a stark reminder that the global pandemic that has killed more than 3.8 million people worldwide was far from over, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned “the coronavirus situation continues to unfold dramatically”.

“We simply must do everything to carry out mass vaccinations in the shortest possible time and stop this terrible disease, stop the deaths of thousands of people,” Sobyanin wrote in a blog post as he ordered compulsory jabs for Muscovites working in the service industry.

The announcement came as Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg hosts matches in the Euro 2020 football tournament, with thousands of foreign visitors expected to fly in for the sporting extravaganza.

Russia has the sixth-highest caseload in the world, but President Vladimir Putin – who was holding a summit with US President Joe Biden in Geneva on Wednesday – has repeatedly claimed the country has handled the pandemic better than most other nations.

The increase in cases comes as authorities struggle to encourage Russians to get vaccinated, even though the country launched a mass campaign of free jabs in December and has developed and approved four vaccines – Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, CoviVac and the one-dose Sputnik Light.

Sobyanin, whose city of some 12 million is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Russia, said just 1.8 million residents had been inoculated.

Worldwide, the novel coronavirus has killed at least 3,824,394 people, according to Johns Hopkins University’s global Covid-19 tracker.

The World Health Organization estimates that the pandemic’s overall toll could be two to three times higher than official figures, due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×