US President Joe Biden signs executive orders for economic relief to Covid-hit families and businesses in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 22, 2021.
Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden will sign a travel ban Monday on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who were recently in South Africa, where a new strain of Covid-19 has been identified, two White House officials told NBC News.
Biden will also reinstate travel restrictions that were rescinded by former President Donald Trump in January, which would ban the entry of non-U.S. citizens from the U.K., Ireland and much of Europe. Brazil would also be affected.
Reuters first reported news of the travel restrictions on Sunday. Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the outlet that the agency was “putting in place this suite of measures to protect Americans and also to reduce the risk of these variants spreading and worsening the current pandemic.”
