America .. New rules for entering air travelers and lifting restrictions on 4 countries, including Arab

The White House said that US President Joe Biden signed an order requiring the necessity to obtain a vaccination against Covid-19 for most foreigners coming to the country by air and lifting strict travel restrictions that were imposed on China, India and many European countries, to take effect from the eighth of next November.

The US restrictions were imposed in early 2020 to confront the spread of the Corona virus pandemic, and most non-US citizens who were within 14 days before their arrival in the country were prevented from entering Britain, the 26 Schengen zone countries, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

"It is in the interests of the United States to remove restrictions that were imposed on certain countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to put in place a new system that relies primarily on vaccination for the safe resumption of flights to the United States," the order said.

The White House confirmed that children under 18 and the elderly with health problems were excluded from the new rules.

Non-tourist travelers from about 50 countries with vaccination rates of 10 percent or less will get an exception to the rules and must be vaccinated within 60 days of arriving in the United States.

Among those countries are Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Armenia, Myanmar, Iraq, Nicaragua, Senegal, Libya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen, Haiti, Chad and Madagascar.

Air travelers will have to provide proof of their vaccination against Covid-19 from an "official source", and airlines must ensure that the passenger receives the second dose at least two weeks before the date of travel.

The White House has clarified that Americans who have not been vaccinated and foreigners who do receive an exception will have to submit a negative COVID-19 test conducted one day before departure.

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