The United States Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have urged US citizens to avoid making any trips to three EU countries - Spain, Portugal and Cyprus - due to the rising rate of coronavirus infections in their territories.
Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are completely vaccinated with an FDA-approved vaccine. Before planning any international trip, travelers are asked to consult the CDC-specific recommendations for fully vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers.
Americans are advised to avoid travel to Spain, Portugal and Cyprus due to the large number of cases.
This advice given by officials against travel to these EU countries was made following statements by a White House official, who said that the US does not intend to lift the ban on entry of travelers from one of the Schengen countries. , despite claims by President Joe Biden that the ban could be lifted soon.
Only on Monday, Spania marked a 14-day incidence of 700 infections per 100.000 inhabitants, which is the highest in the country since early February. According to the World Health Organization, a total of 4.249.258 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Spain since the outbreak of the pandemic, of which 4.162.304 resulted in death. The country reopened its borders for US tourists at the end of June this year, on the recommendation of the EU Council.
Spanish and Portuguese travelers have recently faced entry restrictions due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in their territories.
In Portugal, on the other hand, the cases of the Delta variant prevail among other variants, representing approximately 86% of the cases identified in the country and 100% of the cases identified in Lisbon, since the beginning of this month, reported the National Institute of Health Ricardo Jorge. Many other countries, including France, the Czech Republic and Belgium, apply stricter entry restrictions on arrivals in Portugal.
Cipru marked 851 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections to 98.569. The country also imposes stricter travel restrictions to prevent the virus from spreading. Only last week, the Cypriot authorities removed Liechtenstein, France, Denmark and Finland from the list of countries considered safe based on their epidemiological situation after these countries reported an increased number of COVID-19 infections.
By 31 July, Cypriot citizens and residents must present a "SafePass" for all places they visit indoors and outdoors, where, according to health protocols, more than 20 people can gather. "Safe Pass" contains the certificate attesting to the vaccination, that the holder has passed the disease or the negative result of the PCR test not older than 72 hours. It must be presented at all points of sale, including supermarkets and public markets, but not in small individual stores.