On Sunday, Jan. 25, 2021, the administration of United States President Joe Biden confirmed that it will re-instate the U.S. travel restrictions on all non-U.S. travelers who have been in Brazil and most EU countries, including the UK and Ireland. The announcement comes in response to growing concern about mutated and more contagious and potentially lethal versions of COVID now spreading rapidly in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa.

U.S. South Africa Travel Ban

In addition to re-instating the original bans, the Biden administration also announced it would be imposing a new travel restriction on South Africa which U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin enforcing at 12:01pm EDT – January 30, 2021.

The official order re-instating the bans can be read here.

The travel restrictions, which originally were put in place by former President Donald Trump in 2020, were set to end Jan. 26, 2021. Trump signed a presidential proclamation ending the restrictions shortly before his term ended. However, upon taking office on Jan. 20, 2021, Biden announced that his administration disagreed with the decision to end the travel bans and would be rescinding the order.