By Elishya Perera
TORONTO (CWBN)_ Following deliberations held in Brussels yesterday (Oct 21), the European Union decided to remove Canada, along with Tunisia and Georgia, from the list of countries whose residents should be allowed to visit the bloc, owing to the resurgence of COVID-19 infections .
The Union also opted to reopen its borders to travelers from Singapore, considering the improved virus trends in the country, while the US will remain blacklisted along with most other countries.
The list, which initially permitted 11 countries, has been shrunk to 9, and accordingly, travelers from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand and Uruguay will also be allowed to visit the bloc.
However, the list is not strictly enforced in every EU member state, as some members, such as France, have not placed any restrictions on visitors from nations which are not on the list.
Surge in Europe
The update comes amid resurgence in Coronavirus cases in Europe itself. Yesterday (Oct 21), Spain recorded more than one million Coronavirus cases, becoming the first western European country to pass that landmark figure. Other countries in the region have also seen a surge in new infections over the last few months, forcing governments to bring in strict new regulations to try and control outbreaks.
Meanwhile, Canada has also seen a spike in local infections, Quebec being the hotspot, reporting 1,072 new infections and 19 fatalities yesterday.
However, Singapore has been reporting improved virus trends, as the government hopes to enter phase three of its reopening by the end of this year. According to the Ministry of Communications and Information, as of Tuesday (Oct 20), the number of new cases in the community has increased to 4, and the number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased to 2 cases, in the past week.
