Europe bans travelers from US over Covid fears

Europe is reopening its borders to travelers as the coronavirus pandemic subsides in most developed countries. But not to those coming from the U.S., where the virus's spread remains largely unchecked.

Most travelers from the United States will be barred from entering the European Union after it reopens its borders Wednesday because the coronavirus is still far too prevalent in the U.S., European officials announced Tuesday.

The E.U.'s 27 members have been drawing up a list of countries whose virus levels are deemed low enough to allow people from those places to travel into the bloc, which has been mostly sealed off since March.

Europe was a hotbed of coronavirus infection, with Italy hosting the earliest outbreaks in the west and the UK and Spain ending up suffering the worst per-capita numbers in the world. But infection rates there are now very low, compared the the U.S., which only briefly "flattened the curve" and is now experiencing its highest per-day infection rates since the pandemic began. The list of acceptable travel origins is only 15 countries and will be reviewed every two weeks, say officials.