White House: US to maintain Covid foreign travel restrictions

The US does not intend to lift Covid-19 travel restrictions for non-Americans, the White House has said.

The decision comes amid pressure from airlines and tourism industry lobbyists to lift the sweeping ban before the end of the summer travel season.

The decision was due to a rise in infections, the Delta variant's transmissibility and a recent advisory against travel to the UK.

Cases in the US continue to rise, particularly among the non-vaccinated.

Rising cases "appear likely to continue in the weeks ahead," said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to reporters on Monday, so the US "will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point".

The first round of travel restrictions due to Covid were imposed by the US on China in 2020 January.

Since then, the US ban has expanded to include non-US citizens who had recently visited the UK, the 26-nation Schengen bloc in Europe, Brazil, Ireland, India, Iran and South Africa.