Biden, Trump clash over lifting travel bans

Jen Psaki, US President-elect Joe Biden’s spokeswoman, has dismissed President Donald Trump’s announcement that a coronavirus ban on travellers flying in from much of Europe and Brazil would be lifted.

“On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26,” Psaki, who is Biden’s press secretary, tweeted.

“In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

“With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel,” she added.

Trump had said he would lift the travel ban, although travel bans for China and Iran would remain in place.

According to the outgoing president, “this action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from COVID-19 while enabling travel to resume safely.”

Trump announced the initial ban on January 31, 2020, in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The ban was extended to European countries on March 14, with America shutting itself off from the world as the pandemic entered full force.