While the Biden administration will be easing foreign travel restrictions into the U.S. beginning in November, the White House also indicated that restrictions on non-essential travel from Canada and Mexico through land borders will remain in place through October 21.
According to CBC Canada, the new policy replaces a hodge-podge of travel restrictions first instituted by president Donald Trump last year and tightened by Biden when he took office this year. “This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach, so it’s a stronger system,” said White House COVID-19 co-ordinator Jeff Zients, who announced the new policy on Monday.
On August 9, Canada began allowing fully vaccinated U.S. visitors for nonessential travel, while the United States has continued to extend the extraordinary restrictions on Canada and Mexico on a monthly basis since March 2020, when they were imposed to address the spread of COVID-19.
As for unvaccinated Americans – the rules will be tightened, reports Global News. Any unvaccinated American will need to be tested one day before traveling to the U.S. or leaving. Fully vaccinated passengers will not need to be quarantined.
Airlines will be forced to collect contact information from international travellers to allow for contract tracing, Zients said. It is still unclear which COVID-19 vaccines will be accepted, hoqever, the decision would be left up to the CDC.
