Europe Welcomes Back Tourists, but Not Americans

The European Union wants the world's tourists to know it will be back open for business on Wednesday, but only if they hail from 15 countries. And the US is not one of them. The EU on Tuesday listed the nations whose residents are welcome when the borders reopen: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay, per Business Insider. The 15th is China, provided China reciprocates and allows in EU residents. As for Americans, the soaring number of coronavirus cases in the US means they're off-limits for at least another two weeks, reports the AP.

The US joins nations including Russia, Brazil, and India on the not-welcome list, which will be updated every 14 days. In New Zealand, meanwhile, which has been hailed as a success story in the COVID-19 fight, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pushed back against calls for her nation to reopen its own borders to foreign travelers. In her view, it doesn't make sense to expose New Zealanders to "a world where the virus is escalating, not slowing, and not even peaking in some countries yet," per the Guardian. "All of the while, we get to enjoy weekend sport, go to restaurants and bars, our workplaces are open, and we can gather in whatever numbers we like."

(More European Union stories.)