The Latest: Biden won't end pandemic travel restrictions

PHOENIX (AP) — WASHINGOTN — President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House press secretary says his administration does not intend to lift coronavirus travel restrictions for Europe, the U.K., Ireland and Brazil.

The message from Jen Psaki came Monday evening after the White House said President Donald Trump had lifted the restrictions for those countries, effective Jan. 26.

Psaki then tweeted: “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26.”

She added, “In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

Trump imposed the travel restrictions early in the pandemic to slow the spread of the coronavirus to the U.S. They prevented most people without American citizenship or residency from traveling to the U.S. from the affected regions.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Japan’s prime minister vows to hold the already postponed Olympics this summer as proof of victory over virus

— Israel trades Pfizer vast troves of medical data for the continued flow of its hard-to-get vaccine

— Brazil approves two coronavirus vaccines, ones by Sinovac and Oxford-AstraZeneca

— China's economy grows in 2020 as it rebounds from virus, likely only major economy to expand

— Britain vows to give all adults 1st shot of the virus by September

— Tennis players find ways to keep fit even during hotel room quarantines in Australia

__Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic,...