Biden expected to reverse Trump order, maintain COVID-19 travel ban

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden is expected on Monday to maintain coronavirus travel restrictions for foreign citizens coming from a number of countries, nixing an order to lift the bans from former President Donald Trump in his final days.

CNN, NBC News and USA Today reported Monday that Biden's administration is planning to reverse Trump's executive order, which had effectively declared the COVID-19 pandemic safe enough to resume travel from those countries.

The countries that are not permitted to send travelers to the United States are Brazil, Britain, Ireland and most of Europe -- including France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and Vatican City.

Trump's order was set to lift the restrictions on Tuesday.

China and Iran are also on the banned list, but they were not included on Trump's order to resume U.S. travel.

In addition to canceling Trump's order, Biden is also expected to extend the ban for travelers from South Africa.

The move to go back on Trump's plan was expected before Biden was even inaugurated.

"With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel," White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted last week.

The administration said the decision to continue the restrictions was based on science.

"On the advice of our medical team, the administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on [Tuesday]. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19."

Last week, Biden signed a series of executive orders that addressed numerous issues, including coronavirus vaccination efforts and a national strategy for controlling with crisis.

Under Biden's strategy, the federal government intends to use resources and influence for a more effective national response that provides substantial assistance to state and local governments -- which critics say Trump virtually ignored.

Biden's plan will also utilize the Defense Production Act to increase supplies necessary for conducting large-scale vaccine distribution and to increase testing, as well as producing more masks and other protective equipment.