EU Bans Canada From Europe Travel: Singapore Welcome

The EU is reimposing travel bans on Canada and Tunisia, but travelers from Singapore are now welcome. For the first time since August, the EU is updating its safe country list. But that list is shrinking, not expanding. 

The move follows meetings of EU officials in Brussels on Wednesday. They have been reviewing the list based on the latest Covid epidemiological data.

“Due to a sharp rise in cases of Covid-19 infection, Georgia, Canada and Tunisia have been removed from the list,” a European diplomat said. Meanwhile “Singapore will be added to the list due to improved infection rates.” The official spoke anonymously to several media sources, ahead of an official announcement.

The EU removes Canada, Tunisia and Georgia from its list of countries whose residents are allowed to visit https://t.co/8XL1omN1Ot

— Bloomberg Economics (@economics) October 21, 2020

EU Safe Travel List Shrinks To 8

This means the current list of 10 countries is set to shrink to 8, as Covid flares up worldwide.

Of course, US travelers remain blacklisted from the EU. As do most other countries.

Here’s what to know:

• Due to spiraling Covid outbreaks, Canada, Tunisia and Georgia will come off the list. This means travelers from these countries are no longer welcome in Europe. At least not in the EU/Schengen countries where the travel ban began on March 16.
• The revised list will look like this: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Uruguay and Singapore. China’s inclusion depends on it offering reciprocal travel rights to Europeans. Something it has not yet done, months down the line.
• The final decision to block Canada and others will come in the form of an EU recommendation to members. It’s not binding, yet most EU governments have enforced the travel ban on high-risk countries up until now. Though some such as Germany have not given the green-light to all countries on the safe list.

RELATIVE COVID INFECTION RATES CANADA, SINGAPORE, EU

According to CBC News, there are more than 205,000 confirmed cases of the disease across Canada. That’s after an additional 2,251 new cases were reported on Tuesday. The chart below helps explains why the EU bans on Canada are back.

Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control shows Canada like the US now has a 14-day infection rate of over 120 cases per 100,000 people. That’s also the case for much of the EU. The EU/UK average is over 172 cases per 100,000 and rising.

As to Singapore, it’s been registering no more than 20 new cases a day through October. Now that figure is slumping to a handful. Despite that, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention rates it as high-risk. While the State Department travel advisory for Singapore is a Level 3: Reconsider Travel.