China News Service, September 2 Question: Why did the EU "delete the United States" on this list?

　　Author Chen Xiang

　　On August 30, local time, the European Union issued a statement to remove the United States and other countries from its "safe travel list."

This means that "non-essential travel" from these countries will be restricted, and American tourists to EU countries will not be as free as in the past.

　　The EU has done so for nothing, and to be precise, it is "scared."

　　The past August has become one of the worst months in the entire pandemic in the United States.

According to WHO data, the number of confirmed cases in the United States increased by an average of 152,000 per day last week, returning to the highest level since January this year and more than three times the current EU rate.

　　According to the data from Our World in Data, in the week ending August 28, the average number of confirmed cases per day in the United States has risen to more than 450 per million people. In mid-June, the EU will When the United States was included in the list of safe countries for the epidemic, this number was less than 40.

According to EU standards, the safe infection rate should not exceed 75 cases per 100,000 people.

　　In June of this year, the European Union included the United States on the "Safe Travel List", allowing flights from the United States to arrive in the European Union, lifting restrictions on entry to the United States for visiting U.S. tourists, and expecting U.S. tourists to "buy, buy, and buy" to boost European tourism. Industry.

　　The EU actually took considerable risks in doing so.

According to past statistics, Americans who "wander around" all over the world have "contributed" to the global spread of the epidemic.

　　According to data released by the US National Tourism Office, the period from November 2020 to January 2021 is the peak period of the epidemic in the United States, with an average of 186,000 newly diagnosed cases per day. During the same period, the average number of US citizens going abroad was 87,000, reaching a peak.

South Korean media reported on February 25 this year that 35% of the country’s 7,000 imported cases were from the United States.

　　There have been disagreements within the European Union regarding the release of American tourists.

Some believe that even if the epidemic in the United States has eased after June, it is still worrying and that security should not be sacrificed to save the economy; some believe that the European border is open to Americans, but the US border is not open to Europeans. This is not fair.

　　Now, as the curve of the U.S. epidemic has risen, and the European Union has tightened its entry policy for tourists from the U.S., many Europeans have breathed a sigh of relief.

Some European netizens said on social media: "The United States has finally been deleted, but the virus has spread throughout the United States! They still don't give us a reciprocal policy."

　　However, this EU statement is not legally binding, and each member state can decide on its own whether to "restrict travel" to U.S. tourists.

Germany and Belgium have listed the United States as red, which means strict testing and quarantine are required. Some countries that rely heavily on tourism are unwilling to restrict American tourists.

　　Among the 53 members monitored by the WHO European Office, 33 countries have reported an increase of more than 10% in new cases within 14 days.

Hans Henry Kruger, director of the WHO European Office, recently pointed out that according to a "reliable forecast", by December 1st, there will be 236,000 deaths in Europe from the new crown.

The WHO European region has reported more than 64 million confirmed cases and 1.3 million deaths.

　　Is it economical or safe?

This is really a difficult choice.

The latest "Safe Travel List" of the European Union includes 18 non-EU countries and regions including Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and China.

As long as the epidemic is taken seriously, economy and security can be achieved. Europe is obviously more willing to put the hope of tourism on tourists from "safe countries."

(over)