Due to the prevalence of COVID-19 in the US, American travelers will not be allowed into EU countries.

The EU is planning to reopen its countries’ borders to international travel starting this Wednesday. Travelers from a short list of countries that have effectively gotten their COVID-19 pandemics under control, including Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and others, will be allowed to come and go freely. Unfortunately, the United States is not on this list.

As the United States is still viewed as a hot spot of pandemic activity, with COVID-19-related deaths recently exceeding 125,000, the EU has decided it is not safe to allow travelers from the country until things are decisively under control. The EU will be reviewing the list of unapproved travel countries every two weeks for the foreseeable future, and in the event that any of these countries, including the United States, manage to get a better handle on their COVID-19 situation, they will be added to the approved list.

Back in March, when the pandemic was increasing in severity around the world, the EU was considered the coronavirus hotspot to avoid. It was at this time that US President Donald Trump enacted sweeping travel restrictions to and from the EU, though he had not informed any EU leaders or legislators of this decision until it had already gone into effect. The EU has insisted that the new travel ban against the US is not due to any kind of political grudge against the President, but simply based on epidemiological criteria.

Travel restrictions will not apply to essential travel. This includes EU citizens out of their home country, health workers, freight industries, and diplomats and military personnel. Travelers from banned countries will also be allowed through if they are traveling for “imperative family reasons” in the EU Council’s words.