Travelore Cruise News: CDC Drops COVID-19 Health Warning For Cruise Ship Travelers

Federal health officials are dropping the warning they have attached to cruising since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving it up to vacationers to decide whether they feel safe getting on a ship.

Cruise-ship operators welcomed Wednesday’s announcement, which came as many people thought about summer vacation plans.

An industry trade group said the move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention validated measures that ship owners have taken, including requiring crew members and most passengers to be vaccinated against the virus.

The CDC removed the COVID-19 “cruise ship travel health notice” that was first imposed in March 2020, after virus outbreaks on several ships around the world.

However, the agency expressed reservations about cruising.

While cruising will always pose some risk of COVID-19 transmission, travelers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings,” CDC spokesman Dave Daigle said in an email.

Daigle said the CDC’s decision was based on “the current state of the pandemic and decreases in COVID-19 cases onboard cruise ships over the past several weeks.”

COVID-19 cases in the United States have been falling since mid-January, although the decline has slowed in recent weeks, and the current seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the U.S. is roughly unchanged from two weeks ago, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. States have rolled back mask mandates, putting pressure on federal officials to ease virus-related restrictions.

Outbreaks continue to be reported on cruise ships, which conduct random testing before the end of voyages.

On Sunday, a Princess Cruises ship returning from the Panama Canal had “multiple” passengers who had tested positive for the virus. Princess Cruises said all the affected passengers showed mild symptoms or none at all, and that all crew members and passengers had been vaccinated. About a dozen passengers tested positive before the same boat docked in San Francisco in January.

Operators are required to tell the CDC about virus cases on board ships. The agency has a colored-coded system to classify ships based on the percentage of passengers who test positive. The CDC said that system remains in place.

Cruise-ship operators have complained since the start of the pandemic that their industry has been singled out for a shutdown and then tighter COVID-19 restrictions than others, including airlines.

The Cruise Lines International Association said in a statement that the CDC’s decision to remove its health warning “recognizes the effective public health measures in place on cruise ships and begins to level the playing field between cruise and similarly situated venues on land.”

Colleen McDaniel, editor in chief of Cruise Critic, a site that publishes review of trips, called the CDC decision big news.

“Symbolically it’s a notice of winds of change when it comes to cruising,” she said. “I do think it can convince some of the doubters. What the CDC says does matter to cruisers.”

US Capitol Reopening For Limited Public Tours After 2 Years

The U.S. Capitol will reopen to the public on Monday for guided tours for limited groups of people who have registered in advance, congressional officials said, two years after the coronavirus pandemic prompted the cessation of such visits.

Officials said that the resumption would occur in phases, beginning on Monday for school groups and other groups of up to 15 people who would be led by lawmakers or their aides. Congressional offices would each be limited to leading one tour weekly.

The move, announced Wednesday, marked Congress’ latest relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions as Washington, D.C., and the world struggle to return to normalcy as the omicron variant wave wanes in the U.S. Mask requirements inside the Capitol were relaxed weeks ago in a gradual easing that has been colored by politics, with Republicans pushing for more aggressive easing of restrictions than Democrats.

A health screening form for all visitors was being “recommended,” according to the statement by House Sergeant at Arms William J. Walker and Brian P. Monahan, the Capitol’s attending physician.
The Capitol Visitor Center, an adjacent underground complex that has exhibits and a restaurant, would tentatively reopen to limited numbers of visitors on May 30, officials said.

Walker and Monahan said the renewed tours would be monitored with an eye to revamping the new restrictions if needed. They also said they would be guided by how widespread COVID-19 is in the Washington area.

“We appreciate your continued patience and cooperation as we work together to resume public tours of the Capitol for the American people in a way that protects the health and safety of visitors and institutional staff alike,” they wrote.

The two officials said the decision to renew limited tours was made by congressional leaders, the Capitol’s medical and visitors services staff, the U.S. Capitol Police and the board that oversees that force.

In normal times, around 3 million people visit the Capitol every year.

UK Ending All COVID-19 Travel Rules Ahead Of Easter Break

Britain’s government said Monday all remaining coronavirus measures for travelers, including passenger locator forms and the requirement that unvaccinated people be tested for COVID-19 before and after their arrivals, will end Friday to make going on holiday easier for the Easter school vacation.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes will mean people “can travel just like in the good old days.”

The passenger locator forms require people to fill in travel details, their address in the U.K. and their vaccination status.

The news was welcomed by U.K. airlines such as Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, which said they are beginning to ease mask wearing requirements on some routes.

The announcement came as coronavirus infections were rising in all four parts of the U.K. — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — for the first time since the end of January. The latest government figures released Monday showed that there were more than 444,000 new cases recorded in the past seven days, up 48% from the week before.

The number of hospital patients with COVID-19 is also going up, though it is still well below the peak recorded in January. Scientists say many of the new infections in England were a more transmissible sub-variant of the omicron variant.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the rise in infections was “to be expected” as people socialize more after all domestic coronavirus restrictions, including the legal requirement for anyone who tested positive to self isolate, came to an end Feb. 24.

“We will continue monitoring and tracking potential new variants, and keep a reserve of measures which can be rapidly deployed if needed to keep us safe,” Javid said.

Nevada, Casinos Rescind Mask Mandates

Nevada and its casinos stopped requiring people to wear masks in public on Thursday, joining most other U.S. states lifting restrictions that were imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that the state no longer required face coverings in most places, “effective immediately.”

But to avoid having students rip off their masks in class, he said rules for schools remained in place until the end of the day.

“Masks are not required for students and teachers and employees beginning tomorrow morning,” the governor said.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board quickly followed with an order lifting the face covering rule for casinos “unless a local jurisdiction still imposes such a requirement.

The governor said locations in Nevada where masks may still be required include hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities, at airports and on aircraft and on public buses and school buses. He said masks aren’t mandatory anymore in jails and correctional facilities.

Sisolak, who is seeking reelection in November, had been under increasing pressure to relax regulations. He acknowledged a wide divergence of opinion about mask mandates and said employers and school districts can still set their own policies.

A crowded field of Republicans vying to run against Sisolak have rallied their supporters with criticisms of Nevada’s virus response and mask rules.

“Some people think we were ready long ago, some people think we’re not ready yet,” Sisolak told reporters. “I feel now is the appropriate time to move forward.”

He pointed to a steep decline in coronavirus cases in Nevada since a statewide peak in mid-January. However, the spread of the virus in Nevada remains far above federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention thresholds for positivity and new cases per population of 100,000.

New cases statewide reached 7,865 on Jan. 10, but average about 1,280 cases per day now, Sisolak said. He noted that two-thirds of Nevadans age 5 and older are vaccinated, and said the state is spending $19 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to address the availability of COVID-19 test kits and therapeutics.

Nationally, cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19 have dropped markedly after peaking earlier this year amid the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. A vast majority of Americans are protected against serious illness by effective vaccines and boosters.

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend wearing masks indoors in places of “substantial or high transmission” of the virus, which as of Wednesday was all of the U.S. but 14 rural counties.

Sisolak revived mask mandates last July, during a wave of the delta variant, under a state emergency order he first issued in March 2020. The rule required people in counties with high COVID-19 transmission rates to wear masks in indoor public spaces, consistent with CDC guidelines.

Sisolak said the CDC guidelines no longer would be binding in Nevada under the new executive order he signed Thursday.

“I want to be clear, the emergency is not over,” Sisolak said. “The pandemic is not over. We’re still getting far too many cases, far too many hospitalizations and far too many deaths.”
“I’m hopeful and confident, based on the data we have, we are in a good positions to drop this and to give people back some freedom. Everyone wants to get back to their normal life ... I mean, its been two years. I think the time has come,” he said.

State health officials have tallied almost 638,000 cases of COVID-19 in Nevada, which is home to 3.2 million people, and 9,311 deaths since the first was reported on March 16, 2020.

At the time, Sisolak closed casinos and many businesses until early June 2020 to prevent people from gathering and spreading the virus. Unemployment skyrocketed, topping 30%. Hotel bookings stopped. The effects on the state economy are still being felt.

Nevada depends heavily on tourism, hotel bookings, entertainment and gambling. Las Vegas has more than 150,000 hotel rooms, and casino taxes are second only to sales tax as the biggest contributors to the state budget. Nevada has no personal income tax.

The National Federation of Independent Business state chapter on Wednesday told Sisolak the mask mandate was making it hard for small businesses to retain and hire workers. It cited a U.S. Chamber of Commerce analysis that found businesses in the Silver State had the highest “quit” rate in the nation last year, at 3.8%.

“While many question the effectiveness in stopping the spread of COVID, there is agreement that after two years more and more people are refusing to wear masks, which is presenting a challenge to employees who still have to act like the ‘mask police,’” the group said in a letter to Sisolak.

Sisolak said he decided against dropping the mask mandate only for those who prove they’ve been vaccinated, as some other states have done, because he understands some people will never get vaccinated and he doesn’t want to “hold our whole economy back.”

“I don’t want to put people in the position where ... you’re going to have front-line workers having to ask people, “Have you been vaccinated? Prove to me you’ve been vaccinated.’ I think that is unfair to people.”

Sisolak acted shortly after officials in New York, Illinois and California announced plans to end indoor mask mandates in those states while keeping the rule in place for schoolchildren.

In Las Vegas, administrators of the nation’s fifth-largest school district followed Sisolak’s announcement with a statement lifting the mask rule for teachers and students on campuses, but keeping the requirement for masks on school buses.

“Because COVID-19 continues, students and employees of (the Clark County School District) can make the individual choice to continue masking,” the statement said.

Hong Kong’s Zero-Covid Approach Meets Growing Frustration

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong residents expressed growing frustration Thursday after new, tighter coronavirus restrictions went into effect, imposed by city leaders in line with Beijing’s zero-COVID policy.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam ordered new strict measures to take effect Thursday as the highly-contagious omicron variant of the virus causes record daily cases.

That includes limiting public gatherings to two people and private ones to members of only two households. Places of worship, hair salons and other businesses were ordered to close.

Such measures are part of Hong Kong’s effort to align itself with mainland China’s “zero-COVID” policy, which aims to totally stamp out outbreaks, even as infection numbers continue to rise and other countries shift their approach to living with the virus.

Outside a vaccination center in the Sai Wan Ho area on Thursday, retiree Ken Wong waited in a long line to get his first shot so that he would qualify for a “vaccine pass” when it’s available.

“This is insane,” the 70-year-old said. “There is no way to reach zero cases. If we are going to achieve zero cases it would mean everyone’s wallet will become empty because a lot of people will be out of work and have no income.”

The latest measures will remain until at least Feb. 24, when the vaccine pass will be rolled out, allowing only vaccinated people to visit places like shopping malls and supermarkets.

Newly confirmed cases fell slightly on Thursday to under 1,000 after hitting a daily record 1,161 on Wednesday, Hong Kong health authorities reported. Overall, Hong Kong has seen only about 18,500 cases of COVID-19 and 215 deaths among its population of some 7.5 million.

Opponents of the zero-COVID approach contend that with nearly 65% of the population fully vaccinated and signs the omicron variant of the virus is less severe for those with some immunity, that it is time to change course.

“The government is having difficulties adopting a new strategy which will both align with mainland China but also serve the interests and adapt to the situation in Hong Kong,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor of political science at the Hong Kong Baptist University.

“Nothing can be decided without Beijing’s green light, and the local authorities don’t want to take any chance with that.”

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed over to communist-ruled China in 1997. Under the “one country, two systems” principle, the territory was to retain its own political, social and financial institutions for 50 years after being transferred from British rule.

But China has been tightening its control, stamping out political opposition and curtailing free speech. It imposed a sweeping National Security Law following anti-government protests in 2019, resulting in the imprisonment, intimidation and exile of most opposition voices.

There’s a practical reason for complying with zero-COVID policies — to facilitate travel between Hong Kong and the mainland under less stringent quarantine rules than the three weeks or more required of all foreigners arriving in the Chinese mainland.

Beijing will not let Hong Kong’s borders to the mainland be reopened unless the city reaches and maintains zero-COVID.

This week, Beijing officials and Chinese state media warned Hong Kong against any changes, saying that adopting a “living with the virus” policy would overwhelm its medical systems, the newspaper South China Morning Post reported.

In the upscale Discovery Bay neighborhood on mountainous Lantau island, home to many foreigners, all residents were ordered tested this week after authorities found traces of the virus in the sewage.

Sewage testing is a common practice in Hong Kong, but government demands for entire communities to be tested if the virus is detected are stretching the patience of residents enduring long lines at testing centers.

“The approach is obviously not working,” said Ivan Serrano, a 42-year-old from Spain who had just been tested with his son.

“We can see that other countries with different approaches — apparently the situation currently is better and here, it just got worse.”

New Year’s Eve In Times Square Still On, With Smaller Crowd

NEW YORK (AP) — Revelers will still ring in the new year in New York’s Times Square next week, there just won’t be as many of them as usual under new restrictions announced Thursday as the city grapples with a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Viewing areas that normally accommodate about 58,000 people will be limited to about 15,000 to allow for more distancing, and everyone in attendance must show proof of vaccination and wear a mask, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news release announcing the changes.

“There is a lot to celebrate and these additional safety measures will keep the fully vaccinated crowd safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year,” de Blasio said, noting the city’s success in getting residents vaccinated while also keeping businesses open.

The added precautions for New Year’s Eve in Times Square were spurred by the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the Big Apple, where lines for testing have snaked around blocks in recent days.

On Wednesday, the city set yet another one-day testing record with 22,808 new cases, though a true comparison to the number of cases during the initial COVID-19 surge in spring 2020 is impossible because tests were very limited at the time.

Because of vaccinations, hospitalizations and deaths from the current surge are far fewer than at the pandemic’s height.

Live Theater In London, NYC Grapple With New Virus Outbreaks

NEW YORK (AP) — Many stages on both Broadway and the West End have been forced to go dark once more as the live theater community grapples with backstage outbreaks of the coronavirus and its variants, temporarily closing everything from London’s revival of “Cabaret” starring Eddie Redmayne to mighty “Hamilton” in New York.

“At the end of the day, we’ll follow the science, and the science will say, ‘You need to shut down this performance,’” Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We anticipated that because they were telling us all along that if more people didn’t get their shots, that new variants would arrive and new variants would have cases. And guess what? It’s called omicron.”

On Broadway, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” canceled its Wednesday matinee, “Tina” canceled two shows on Wednesday and “Hamilton” has called off shows through Friday night. “Ain’t Too Proud” scrapped its Tuesday performance and “Freestyle Love Supreme” canceled two performances. “Mrs. Doubtfire,” which just opened and has been dark since Sunday, intends to resume performances Tuesday. ​​

“We still just had five of 32 shows with a canceled performance yesterday, which says the other 27 were working and the protocols work,” said St. Martin, who notes that many shows have daily staff testing.

“If somebody tests positive, even if it’s a false positive, they’re not allowed to go on and potentially infect everyone else. That should be a reason for safety and comfort, for not only the community, but our theatergoers.”

Mary McColl, executive director of Actors’ Equity Association, which represents actors and stage managers, said the cancellation of shows means that Broadway producers are taking cases seriously and acting appropriately.

“The fact that performances are being paused shows that the producers and the unions are staying vigilant,” McColl said in a statement. “That’s what the safety protocols are there to be in place for, and this shows that they’re working.

During the more than 18 months that Broadway was closed, many theaters adjusted, adding rigorous personal testing and installing portable air fans and air filters with MERV-13 or HEPA technology. But old theaters are uniquely risky when it comes to transmission, with narrow backstage spaces and staff that often crowd. St. Martin said a booster campaign is being worked on.

London’s rocketing coronavirus infection rate, driven by the omicron variant, is also sparking a slew of cancellations among West End shows.

It’s a big blow to the theater sector in both cities, which have only recently reemerged after more than a year of lockdown and counts on the holiday season for a big chunk of their incomes.

UK shows including “Hamilton,” “The Lion King,” “Life of Pi,” “Come from Away” and “Matilda the Musical” canceled one or more performances this week because of COVID-19 outbreaks. Others have gone further: The National Theatre has pulled the plug on “Hex” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” for the next two weeks “due to company illness.”

The Donmar Warehouse has canceled performances of “Force Majeure,” about an avalanche and its consequences, until Dec. 29 after several members of the company tested positive.

“It is sadly ironic that we must cancel performances of this brilliantly funny show titled ‘Force Majeure’ because of a… force majeure event,” said artistic director Michael Longhurst.

Shows that remain open fear audiences will stay away after public health authorities warned people to cut back on socializing to help slow the spread of omicron.

New rules that took effect this week in London mean that theatregoers have to show a negative coronavirus test or proof of vaccination to be admitted. At “Cabaret,” the rules were even stronger: All attendees, even those fully vaccinated, were required to show a negative COVID-19 test before entering the theater.

In New York, the rules have tightened for children: All kids aged 5 to 11 must now show proof of receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to attend a Broadway show and must be accompanied by a vaccinated adult. If the child has been vaccinated less than 14 days before the performance, he or she must also provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test for entry.

Madison Square Garden said late Thursday that it would comply and ask for proof that children ages 5 to 11 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to gain access to the holiday show at Radio City Music Hall and its Cirque du Soleil show.

And the Metropolitan Opera is requiring the audience and employees to receive COVID-19 booster shots for entry starting Jan. 17. The company said anyone not yet eligible to receive a booster shot will be allowed a two-week grace period after they become eligible.

UK Launches Booster Vaccination Blitz And Compulsory Masking As New Variant Spreads

LONDON (AP) — New measures to combat the new omicron variant of coronavirus took effect in England on Tuesday, with face coverings again compulsory in shops and on public transportation, as the government said it would offer all adults a booster dose of vaccine within two months to bolster the nation’s immunity.

From Tuesday morning, all travelers returning to the U.K. must also take a PCR test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result. Previously they had been able to take a lateral flow test and there was no quarantine requirement.

The reintroduction of mandatory face masks brings England closer in line with the rest of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — which had kept some restrictions in place after England lifted all mandatory measures in the summer.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new measures will “buy us time in the face” of the new variant. He said that while many people felt an understandable “sense of exhaustion” at the prospect of renewed restrictions, the U.K.’s position is “immeasurably better than it was a year ago.”

The government said Tuesday that 22 cases of the omicron variant have been identified across the U.K., a number that is expected to rise.

Much remains unknown about the new variant that was first identified in South Africa, including how contagious it might be. It contains a large number of mutations that scientists say may make it more resistant to current vaccines than the currently dominant delta variant.

Johnson’s government is expanding its booster vaccine program, with a booster dose to be offered to everyone 18 and up, three months after the second shot — halving the current gap. Until now, only people 40 years old or over and those deemed clinically vulnerable were eligible for the booster shot.

Britain has already delivered more than 18 million booster shots, and the change in advice makes another 14 million people eligible.

Johnson said at a news conference that the goal was to offer everyone a booster shot by the end of January. He said the shots would be given at hospitals, doctors’ offices, pop-up vaccination centers and more than 1,500 community pharmacies, with 400 troops called in to help medics and a “jabs army” of volunteer vaccinators.

“We’re going to be throwing everything at it, in order to ensure that everyone eligible is offered that booster in just over two months,” Johnson said.

Jenny Harries, who heads the U.K. Health Security Agency, said that while there was still uncertainty in understanding the omicron variant, officials hope that the expansion of the booster shot rollout will “to some extent counter the potential drop in vaccine effectiveness we might find with this variant.”

She also urged people to be cautious and reduce socializing over the festive season if possible.

When asked if he agreed with Harries’ advice for the public to change their behavior, Johnson told reporters “it’s always sensible to be careful,” but his government had no plans to change the “overall guidance about how people should be living their lives.”

The government’s scientific advisers said in October that a “Plan B” — including reintroducing government advice to work from home — should be implemented in case of a surge in infections, but the government has so far said there’s been nothing to suggest this is necessary.

Malaysia, Singapore Set To Reopen Borders To Some Travel

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia and Singapore said Wednesday they will partially reopen their borders next week to fully vaccinated citizens and some others, after nearly two years of closure due to the pandemic that had stranded many Malaysian workers in the neighboring city-state away from their families.

Leaders from both countries said limited travel will be allowed across the land border from Monday, with plans to gradually relax restrictions. Air travel will reopen on the same day to fully vaccinated passengers, allowing quarantine-free travel between the two countries, with fewer restrictions.

Travelers crossing the Causeway Bridge that connects the island of Singapore with the Malaysian peninsula must be citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders, according to separate statements from the leaders of both governments. In the first phase, the number of travelers crossing the land border per day will be limited to 2,880 and required to travel on designated bus services, the statements said.

The Causeway was one of the world’s busiest land borders before the pandemic struck.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the partial border reopening would give priority to workers in either country who have not been able to visit their families since the land crossing was shut in March 2020.

Lee said the reopening of the border will be a “big step towards reconnecting our people and economies.” A second land link will also subsequently be restored, he added.

Limits on land border crossings will progressively be relaxed to include general travelers and other modes of transportation than the bus services, the statements added.

Travelers, except children aged two and below, must test negative two days before entering Singapore and are required to register online before purchasing bus tickets. Unvaccinated children aged 12 and below must be accompanied by fully vaccinated parents or guardians, the governments said.

With more than 95% of the adult population in both countries fully vaccinated, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this has allowed both countries to reopen their land border in a “gradual, safe, systematic, and sustainable manner.”

More than 350,000 people crossed daily the Causeway before it was shut, mostly Malaysians working in Singapore due to a favorable exchange rate. Officials estimated that more than 100,000 Malaysians were stuck in the island-state after the border closed.

Universal Studios Opens Beijing Park Under Anti-Virus Curbs

BEIJING (AP) — Harry Potter fans came dressed as wizards as Universal Studios opened its first theme park in China on Monday under anti-virus controls.

The Hollywood studio’s “Jurassic Park,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “Harry Potter” film franchises, plus Minions from “Despicable Me” feature prominently at Universal Studios Beijing on the Chinese capital’s eastern outskirts.

The opening went ahead despite coronavirus outbreaks in China’s southeast that prompted the government to tighten travel controls in some areas.

“We’ve been longing for the opening for quite a while,” said a visitor, Niu Haoxuan.

Visitors were required to wear masks and display a smartphone-based health code that shows whether they have been to regions deemed at high-risk of infection.

After a report of a possible case in Beijing last week, “we were very worried,” said Zoe Shi. “We thought about whether we should still go. It turned out to be untrue in the end. We feel lucky.”

Universal Studios Beijing is the Chinese capital’s first foreign-branded amusement park. It is the fifth worldwide for Universal Studios and the third in Asia, after Japan and Singapore. Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal, a unit of Comcast Corp.

The park received high-profile support from the Beijing city government despite tension between the ruling Communist Party and Washington. The city extended a subway line and added a station named for the park.

EU takes US Off Safe Travel List; Backs Travel Restrictions

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infections there, but member countries will keep the option of allowing fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in.

The decision by the European Council to remove the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel reverses the advice that it gave in June, when the bloc recommended lifting restrictions on all U.S. travelers before the summer tourism season.

The EU’s decision reflects growing anxiety that the rampant spread of the virus in the U.S. could jump to Europe at a time when Americans are allowed to travel to the continent. Both the EU and the U.S. have faced rising infections this summer, driven by the more contagious delta variant.

The guidance issued Monday is nonbinding, however. American tourists should expect a mishmash of travel rules across the continent since the EU has no unified COVID-19 tourism policy and national EU governments have the authority to decide whether or how they keep their borders open during the pandemic.

More than 15 million Americans a year visited Europe before the coronavirus crisis, and new travel restrictions could cost European businesses billions in lost travel revenues, especially in tourism-reliant countries like Croatia, which has been surprised by packed beaches and hotels this summer.

“Nonessential travel to the EU from countries or entities not listed (on the safe list) ... is subject to temporary travel restriction,” the council said in a statement. “This is without prejudice to the possibility for member states to lift the temporary restriction on nonessential travel to the EU for fully vaccinated travelers.”

U.S. travelers would have to be immunized with one of the vaccines approved by the bloc, which includes Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson&Johnson.

Possible restrictions on U.S. travelers could include quarantines, further testing requirements upon arrival or even a total ban on all nonessential travel from the U.S.

In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stressed Monday that the EU travel restrictions applied to the unvaccinated, adding that “the fastest path to reopening travel is for people to get vaccinated, to mask up and slow the spread of the deadly virus.”

Paski told reporters that the U.S. government is working across federal agencies to develop its own policy for international travel, with the possibility of strengthening testing protocols and potentially ensuring that foreign visitors are fully vaccinated. But she said no final decision has been made yet.

The EU recommendation doesn’t apply to Britain, which formally left the EU at the beginning of the year and opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. earlier this month.

The United States remains on Britain’s “amber” travel list, meaning that fully vaccinated adults arriving from the U.S. to the U.K. don’t have to self-isolate. A negative COVID-19 test within three days before arriving in the U.K. is required and another negative test is needed two days after arriving.

The EU also removed Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia from the safe travel list on Monday.

Meanwhile, the United States has yet to reopen its own borders to EU tourists, despite calls from the bloc to do so. Adalbert Jahnz, the European Commission spokesperson for home affairs, said Monday that the EU’s executive arm remained in discussions with the Biden administration but so far both sides have failed to find a reciprocal approach.

In addition to the epidemiological criteria used to determine the countries for which restrictions should be lifted, the European Council said that “reciprocity should also be taken into account on a case-by-case basis.”

The European Council updates the safe travel list every two weeks, based criteria related to coronavirus infection levels. The threshold for being on the EU safe list is having not more than 75 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days.

The U.S. , meanwhile, is averaging more than 155,000 new coronavirus cases and 1,200 deaths per day, and several U.S. states have more COVID-19 patients in the hospital now than at any other time during the pandemic.

Authorities in Oregon are seeking extra refrigerated trucks because morgues are at capacity and Florida is in a similar situation after a week in which more than 1,700 people died from the virus in the state. Hospitals are desperately running out of staff in several states, and the start of the school year has brought even more fears that the outlook will worsen as millions of unvaccinated students return to their classrooms.

U.S. school districts have been struggling over whether to impose mask mandates, sometimes even suing in states where officials are against such requirements.

Vaccine hesitancy also remains a problem in many locations in the U.S., where 61% of the eligible population is inoculated against the virus. In contrast, Britain has fully vaccinated over 78% of adults and EU countries have inoculated nearly 70% of those over 18.

With Virus Surge, US To Keep Travel Restrictions For Now

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States served notice Monday that it will keep existing COVID-19 restrictions on international travel in place for now due to concerns about the surging infection rate because of the delta variant.

It was the latest sign that the White House is having to recalibrate its thinking around the coronavirus pandemic as the more infectious variant surges across the U.S. and a substantial chunk of the population resists vaccination.

It was also a reversal from the sentiment President Joe Biden voiced earlier this month when he said his administration was “in the process” of considering how soon the U.S. could lift the ban on European travel bound for the U.S. after the issue was raised by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to the White House.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the restrictions would continue for now.

“Driven by the delta variant, cases are rising here at home, particularly among those who are unvaccinated, and appears likely to continue in the weeks ahead,” she said.

The rising cases also are causing the administration to take a closer look at policies on wearing masks.

On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first first major federal agency to require its health care workers to get COVID-19 vaccines. And over the weekend, U.S. health officials acknowledged they’re considering changing the federal government’s recommendations on wearing masks.

The delta variant is a mutated coronavirus that spreads more easily than other versions. It was first detected in India but now has been identified around the world. Last week, U.S. health officials said the variant accounts for an estimated 83% of U.S. COVID-19 cases, and noted a 32% increase in COVID hospitalizations from the previous week.

The rise in cases has prompted some state and local officials to reinstate masking guidance, even for vaccinated Americans.

The White House follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance released in May, which states those who are unvaccinated don’t have to wear masks indoors. They’ve thus far made no changes to Biden’s public events, and the president is still traveling the country and participating in events unmasked.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on CNN’s State of the Union this Sunday that recommending that the vaccinated wear masks is “under active consideration” by the government’s leading public health officials.

“We’re going in the wrong direction,” Fauci said, describing himself as “very frustrated.”

The surge in the delta variant poses a major political challenge for Biden, who called it a “great day” for Americans when the CDC released its relaxed masking guidance in May and on July 4 declared that “the virus is on the run and America is coming back.” He’s spent the past few months shifting his focus from dire warnings to Americans to get vaccinated to public events pitching his infrastructure, education and jobs proposals, which are currently in the middle of fevered negotiations on Capitol Hill.

The administration has touted strong economic growth as fears about the pandemic waned, states relaxed their coronavirus restrictions and their economies opened back up. But the surging delta variant risks undermining that economic progress and drawing Biden’s attention away from his domestic agenda and Democratic Party priorities like gun, voting and policing reforms, back to the risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

It could also highlight one of the administration’s greatest struggles thus far: The sluggish vaccination rate nationwide. As of Sunday, 69% of American adults had received one vaccination shot, according to the CDC — still slightly below the 70% goal Biden had set for July 4. Sixty percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated.

When asked Monday if he had confidence he could get unvaccinated Americans to get the shot, Biden said, “we have to,” but ignored a follow-up question on how. And prior to the VA’s announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki skirted questions from reporters on why the administration hadn’t yet issued its own vaccination mandates for healthcare workers, deferring to the CDC for guidance and hospitals and healthcare associations on the ultimate decision.

Psaki acknowledged that the administration runs the risk of undermining its vaccination goals by further politicizing an already fraught issue if the president becomes the face of vaccine mandates.

“The president certainly recognizes that he is not always the right voice to every community about the benefits of getting vaccinated, which is why we have invested as much as we have in local voices and empowering local trusted voices,” she said.

Still, it’s clear the administration is taking steps to address the continued impact of the pandemic.

Biden announced Monday that those Americans dealing with so-called “long COVID” — sometimes debilitating side effects caused by the illness that last for months after the initial infection — would have access to disability protections under federal law.

“These conditions can sometimes, sometimes, rise to the level of a disability,” he said, adding they’d have accommodations in schools and workplaces “so they can live their lives in dignity and get the support they need.”

And the CDC advised Americans against travel to the United Kingdom this past Monday given a surge in cases there.

Most of continental Europe has relaxed restrictions on Americans who are fully vaccinated, although the United Kingdom still requires quarantines for most visitors arriving from the U.S. Airlines say, however, that the lack of two-way travel is limiting the number of flights they can offer and seats they can sell.

But the rise and prevalence of COVID-19 variants in Europe, especially the delta mutation, has caused the Biden administration to tread slowly about increasing transatlantic travel.

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE and AAMER MADHANI

Travelore Health Alert: South Africa’s New Coronavirus Cases Surge To Record Levels

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s resurgence of COVID-19 is setting record numbers of new daily cases, centered in Johannesburg and driven by the delta variant, health officials said Sunday.

More than 26,000 new cases were reported on Saturday, up from 24,000 the previous day, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, surpassing the highest number of new cases in previous waves and quickly bringing many hospitals to capacity. More than 13,800 COVID-19 patients are currently in South African hospitals where some facilities are canceling elective surgeries to free up beds and health care workers.

South Africa’s official death toll has risen above 63,000, although statistics on excess deaths suggest the country’s actual number of virus fatalities may be more than 170,000.

South Africa’s 2 million cases account for more than 30% of the cases reported by Africa’s 54 countries, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Cyril Ramaphosa last week increased restrictions to try to reduce the spread of the virus, including extending a nighttime curfew, banning the sale of alcohol, closing many schools and stopping travel into and out of Gauteng, the country’s most populous province that includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria. Gauteng accounts for more than 60% of the new cases and officials fear other provinces and cities will soon follow.

After a slow start, South Africa’s vaccination drive is picking up pace but is still far behind developed nations. To date, more than 3.3 million of South Africa’s 60 million people have received at least one jab of the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The inoculation campaign started with health care workers, those aged 60 and over and schoolteachers. On Monday police can get a jab and soon those 50 and over can too.

The nation’s Health Products Regulatory Authority on Saturday authorized the vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinovac, providing that it submits final results of ongoing clinical studies.

Neighboring southern African countries including Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are also struggling to cope with a surge of infections.

Study Finds That Blocking Seats On Planes Reduces Virus Risk

A new study says leaving middle seats open could give airline passengers more protection from the virus that causes COVID-19.

Researchers said the risk of passengers being exposed to the virus from an infected person on the plane could be reduced by 23% to 57% if middle seats are empty, compared with a full flight.

The study released Wednesday supports the response of airlines that limited seating early in the pandemic. However, all U.S. airlines except Delta now sell every seat they can, and Delta will stop blocking middle seats on May 1.

The airlines argue that filters and air-flow systems on most planes make them safe when passengers wear face masks, as they are now required to do by federal regulation.

Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kansas State University estimated how far airborne virus particles travel inside a plane. They used mannequins that emitted aerosol to measure the flow of virus particles through airline cabin mock-ups.

The study, however, did not take into account the wearing of face masks because it was based on a previous study done in 2017, before the pandemic.

Nor did it consider whether passengers are vaccinated against COVID-19. The CDC says vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves, although the agency still recommends against nonessential travel.

Airlines for America, a trade group for the largest U.S. carriers, said airlines use several layers of measures to prevent the spread of the virus on planes, including face masks, asking passengers about their health, and stepped-up cleaning of cabins. The group cited a Harvard University report funded by the airline industry as showing that the risk of transmitting the coronavirus on planes is very low.

Airlines were divided last year over filling middle seats. While Delta, Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue limited seating on planes, United Airlines never did and American Airlines only blocked seats for a short time. It was mostly an academic question, because relatively few flights last year were crowded. That is changing.

More than 1 million travelers have gone through U.S. airports each day for the past month. While that is still down more than one-third from the same period in 2019, more flights now are crowded. Around Easter weekend, Delta temporarily filled middle seats to accommodate passengers whose original flights were canceled because of staffing shortages.

Yosemite National Park To Limit Summer Visitors Due To Virus

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Yosemite National Park will require advanced reservations for day visitors during the peak summer season to limit the number of visitors and allow social distancing amid the pandemic.

Under the new rules, advance reservations will be required for day use visitors who enter Yosemite from May 21 to Sept. 30, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The park’s superintendent, Cicely Muldoon, said large crowds already have been coming to the park in recent weeks, and there are still cases of COVID-19 spreading in California, and other states and countries where visitors are coming from.

“The basic plan is to protect human health and safety and provide as much access as we can,” Muldoon said Thursday during a meeting with government and business leaders of the communities surrounding the park.

Rocky Mountain National Park and Glacier National Park are putting in place similar rules, which have been encouraged for decades by environmental groups but resisted by gateway communities whose economies depend heavily on tourism.

A similar day-use reservation system was in place last summer. It resulted in Yosemite’s visitation rates dropping by half. This summer the number of visitors allowed will range from 50% to 90%, depending on what levels of COVID-19 are found in Mariposa County on the park’s western edge. Currently, with Mariposa in California’s orange tier, Yosemite will allow 70% of normal summer visitation — or about 5,760 vehicles a day.

“We think these numbers will allow people to enjoy the park safely,” Muldoon said.

Reservations can be made at www.recreation.gov beginning at 8 a.m. on April 21. Each day-use reservation is valid for one vehicle for three days. Vehicles that arrive at park entrances after May 21 without reservations will not be admitted.

Due to pandemic concerns, park shuttle buses will not run this summer. Some, but not all campgrounds in the park will be open, with 585 sites available starting July 1, compared to 247 last year.

Travelore News: Maui To Require 2nd Virus Tests For Tourists, Visitors

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — Maui County in Hawaii will soon require second coronavirus tests for out-of-state and international visitors.

Tourists flying into Maui County from outside Hawaii will now need negative, pre-travel coronavirus tests and negative tests when arriving at the Kahului Airport, Mayor Michael Victorino told reporters on Wednesday.

People who refuse either test will be required to quarantine for 10 days in Maui. The pre-travel virus tests must occur at most 72 hours before passengers take their flights.

“This secondary test has been designed to determine if visitors and returning residents are contributing to the large rate of COVID-19 here in Maui,” Victorino said.

Victorino estimated that the program may take up to 10 business days to put in place.

A study conducted in November by Maui health officials found that two out of every 281 travelers who consented to second, follow-up coronavirus tests at the airport tested positive, the Maui News reported.

A county spokesperson could not be reached for comment Wednesday by the Maui News regarding how much the new testing program will cost.

Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, breathing trouble, sore throat, muscle pain and loss of taste or smell. Most people develop only mild symptoms.

But some people, usually those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia. Sometimes people with a coronavirus infection display no symptoms.

UK to Ease Lockdown Next Week, Will Test Vaccine Passports

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s slow but steady march out of a three-month lockdown remains on track even as coronavirus cases surge elsewhere in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday, as he confirmed that businesses from barbers to bookstores will be allowed to reopen next week.

Johnson said it’s too soon to decide, however, whether U.K. residents will be able to have summer trips abroad. He confirmed that the government will test out a contentious “vaccine passport” system — a way for people to offer proof they have protection from COVID-19 — as a tool to help travel and large events return safely.

Four weeks after England took its first step out of lockdown by reopening schools, Johnson said Britain’s vaccination program was proceeding well and infections were falling. He said the next step would come as planned on April 12, with the reopening of hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms, nonessential shops and bar and restaurant patios.

“We set out our road map and we’re sticking to it,” Johnson said during a news conference.

But, he added, “We can’t be complacent. We can see the waves of sickness afflicting other countries, and we’ve seen how this story goes.”

A ban on overnight stays away from home in England will also be lifted April 12, and outdoor venues such as zoos and drive-in cinemas can operate again.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following similar but slightly different paths out of lockdown.
B
ritain has recorded almost 127,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Europe. But infections and deaths both have fallen sharply during the current lockdown and since the start of a vaccination campaign that has given a first dose to more than 31 million people, or six in 10 adults.

The government aims to give all adults at least one shot of vaccine by July, and hopes that a combination of vaccination and mass testing will allow indoor socializing and large-scale events to return.

It says all adults and children in England will be encouraged to have routine coronavirus tests twice a week as a way to stamp out new outbreaks. The government said free lateral flow tests will be available free starting Friday by mail, from pharmacies and in workplaces.

Lateral flow tests give results in minutes but are less accurate than the PCR swab tests used to officially confirm cases of COVID-19. But the government insists they are reliable and will help find people who contract the virus but don’t have symptoms.

Britons are currently banned by law from going on holiday abroad under the extraordinary powers Parliament has given the government to fight the pandemic. The government said Monday it won’t lift the travel ban before May 17 — and maybe later.

“The government hopes people will be able to travel to and from the U.K. to take a summer holiday this year, but it is still too soon to know what is possible,” it said in an official update.

Once travel resumes, Britain will rank countries on a traffic-light system as green, yellow or red based on their level of vaccinations, infections and worrying new virus variants. People arriving from “green” countries will have to be tested but won’t face quarantine.

The government also is testing a system of “COVID-status certification” — often dubbed “vaccine passports” — that would allow people seeking to travel or attend events to show they either have received a coronavirus vaccine, tested negative for the virus, or recently had COVID-19 and therefore have some immunity.

A series of events will start this month, including soccer matches, comedy shows and marathon races. The government said the first events will rely only on testing, “but in later pilots vaccination and acquired immunity are expected to be alternative ways to demonstrate status.”

The issue of vaccine passports has been hotly debated around the world, raising questions about how much governments, employers and venues have a right to know about a person’s virus status. The idea is opposed by a wide swath of British lawmakers, from left-of-center opposition politicians to members of Johnson’s Conservative Party, and the policy could face stiff opposition when it is put before Parliament later this month.

Conservative legislator Graham Brady said vaccine passports would be “intrusive, costly and unnecessary.” The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, called the idea “un-British.”

The government said vaccine passports were all but unavoidable, since many countries were certain to demand proof of COVID-19 status for entry. And it said barring British businesses from asking customers for similar proof would be “an unjustified intrusion on how businesses choose to make their premises safe.”

The government said, however, that vaccine passports would never be needed to access “essential public services, public transport and essential shops.”

Johnson acknowledged that vaccine passports raised “complicated ethical and practical issues” and stressed their introduction wasn’t imminent.
“We’re some way off finalizing any plans for COVID-certification in the U.K.,” he said.

Paris Doctors Warn Of Catastrophic Overload Of Virus Cases

PARIS (AP) — Critical care doctors in Paris say surging coronavirus infections could soon overwhelm their ability to care for the sick in the French capital’s hospitals, possibly forcing them to choose which patients they have the resources to treat.

The sobering warning was delivered Sunday in a newspaper opinion signed by 41 Paris-region doctors. Published by Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, it comes as French President Emmanuel Macron has been vigorously defending his decision not to completely lockdown France again as he did last year. Since January, Macron’s government has instead imposed a nationwide overnight curfew and followed that with a grab-bag of other restrictions.

But with infections soaring and hospitals increasingly running short of intensive care beds, doctors have been stepping up the pressure for a full French lockdown.

The Paris-region doctors who wrote in Le Journal du Dimanche said: “We have never known such a situation, even during the worst (terror) attacks” that targeted the French capital, notably assaults by Islamic State extremists in 2015 that killed 130 people and filled Paris emergency wards with the wounded.

The doctors predicted that softer new restrictions imposed this month on Paris and some other regions won’t quickly bring the resurgent epidemic under control. They warned that hospital resources won’t be able to keep pace with needs, forcing them to practice “catastrophe medicine” in the coming weeks as cases peak.

“We already know that our capacity to offer care will be overwhelmed,” they wrote. “We will be obliged to triage patients in order to save as many lives as possible. This triage will concern all patients, with and without COVID, in particular for adult patients’ access to critical care.”

Macron remains adamant that not locking France down again this year, like some other European countries, was sound, even as more than 2,000 deaths per week push the country ever closer to the milestone of 100,000 people lost to the pandemic. The country now counts more than 94,400 dead.

“We were right not to implement a lockdown in France at the end of January because we didn’t have the explosion of cases that every model predicted,” Macron said last week. “There won’t be a mea culpa from me. I don’t have remorse and won’t acknowledge failure.”

Air Travelers Top 1.5 Million For First Time In Over A Year

More than 1.5 million people streamed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on Sunday, the largest number since the pandemic tightened its grip on the United States more than a year ago.

It marked the 11th straight day that the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 1 million people, likely from a combination of spring break travel and more people becoming vaccinated against COVID-19.

Airline executives say they have seen an increase in bookings during the last few weeks.

However, passenger traffic remains far below 2019 levels.

The TSA said Monday that it screened about 1.54 million people on Sunday, which appeared to be the largest number since March 13, 2020. It was more than triple the 454,516 people that TSA reported screening on the comparable Sunday a year ago, and the seven-day rolling average of screenings has doubled since Feb. 1.

Still, the number of people passing through airport checkpoints Sunday was about one-fourth below the number on the closest Sunday in 2019.

EU Sets Out Virus Pass Plan To Allow Free Travel By Summer

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive body proposed Wednesday issuing certificates that would allow EU residents to travel freely across the 27-nation bloc by the summer as long as they have been vaccinated, tested negative for COVID-19 or recovered from the disease.

With summer looming and tourism-reliant countries anxiously waiting for the return of visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission foresees the creation of certificates aimed at facilitating travel between EU member nations. The plan is set to be discussed during a summit of EU leaders next week.

“We all want the tourist season to start. We can’t afford to lose another season,” European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova told Czech public radio. “Tourism, and also culture and other sectors that are dependent on tourism, terribly suffer. We’re talking about tens of millions of jobs.”

The topic of vaccine certificates has been under discussion for weeks in the EU, where it proved to be divisive. The travel industry and southern European countries with tourism-dependent economies like Greece and Spain have pushed for the quick introduction of a program that would help eliminate quarantines and testing requirements for tourists.

But several other EU members, including France, argued that it would be premature and discriminatory to introduce such passes since a large majority of EU citizens haven’t had access to vaccines so far.

To secure the participation of all member countries, the commission proposed delivering free “Digital Green Certificates” to EU residents who can prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, but also to those who have tested negative for the virus or can prove they recovered from it.

“Being vaccinated will not be a precondition to travel,” the European Commission said. “All EU citizens have a fundamental right to free movement in the EU, and this applies regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. The Digital Green Certificate will make it easier to exercise that right, also through testing and recovery certificates.”

According to data compiled by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, less than 5% of European citizens have been fully vaccinated amid delays in the delivery and production of vaccines. The European Commission says it remains confident that it can achieve its goal of having 70% of the EU’s adult population vaccinated by the end of the summer.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the travel certificates “will help boost tourism and the economies that rely heavily on it.” Europe’s aviation industry urged EU governments to ensure the passes are operational in time for the peak of the summer travel season.

The commission proposed that all vaccines rubberstamped by the European Medicines Agency should be automatically recognized, but also offered governments the possibility to include other vaccines like Russia’s Sputnik or China’s Sinovac, which haven’t received EU market authorization.

The European Commission guaranteed that “a very high level of data protection will be ensured” and said the certificates will be issued in digital format to be shown either on smartphones or paper.

EU officials also hope that vaccine certificates will convince the member states which have introduced travel restrictions aimed at slowing down the pace of new infections to lift their measures. The EU’s executive arm has previously warned six countries that their travel-limiting measures, which in Belgium go as far as a ban on nonessential trips, could undermine the core EU principle of free travel and damage the single market.

The commission said the certificates should be suspended once the World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If agreed by the EU leaders, the proposal will need to be approved by EU lawmakers to enter into force.

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN