Parts Of The World Are Reopening For International Travel – But South Africa Will Still Likely Face Restrictions

EUROPEAN Union governments have agreed to allow quarantine-free travel for vaccinated tourists and visitors from countries deemed safe.

Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member states have backed a proposal to waive quarantine for those with coronavirus inoculations approved by its drug regulator, including shots from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, Bloomberg reported.

The approval could be finalised this week and implemented soon after. Unvaccinated travellers will also be able to avoid quarantine if they come from countries that have controlled the Covid-19 outbreak, meaning a 14-day new-case rate of less than 75 per 100,000, according to two officials familiar with the decision.

This would land the US and some other countries on a “white list” which is due to be adopted later this week.

Using this metric, travellers from South Africa would qualify, as the country has reported just 33 infections per 100,ooo people over the last seven days,