Canadians can no longer travel to the European Union, after the country was removed from the EU’s ‘white list’ of places whose residents could visit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Bloomberg, Reuters and other international reports, Canada, Tunisia, and Georgia have all been removed from list of countries whose citizens could enter the EU for non-essential travel.
On the other hand, the bloc’s borders have been reopened to Singapore residents.
EU officials first set up this white list on July 1, allowing citizens of 15 countries to enter the bloc in an effort to ease travel restrictions first instated in March.
Canada had been on the list since its inception, unlike the U.S. whose citizens have always been blacklisted.
Now, residents from just nine countries — Australia, Singapore, China, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand and Uruguay —have unfettered access to travel to EU nations.
These changes were made in the midst of a second wave resurgence of the novel coronavirus in Europe itself, with over 138,500 new cases recorded each day over the past week.
The rise of confirmed cases in Europe is very rapid.
– This is showing the 7-day rolling average. Over the last week 138,500 cases were confirmed every day.
– The doubling time of confirmed cases for Europe as a whole is two weeks.[interactive source https://t.co/iv71Ipz3lb] pic.twitter.com/YIUHcZi3rl
— Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) October 20, 2020
The Canadian border has been closed to non-essential travellers from the U.S. since mid-March and will remain closed until at least November 21.
Non-U.S. citizens are also restricted from entering the country until at least the end of October.
Canada’s COVID-19 curve is also on an upward trajectory as the country, like many others in the world, enters the second wave of the pandemic.
