Last week, the European Union released a highly anticipated list: countries whose Covid-19 levels are low enough for their travelers to enter Europe now that borders have reopened to non-essential travel. The US is not on it.
Given the rising numbers of cases being reported around America, this is hardly surprising news. Still, it deals a blow to Americans who were holding on to the hope of somehow squeezing in a trip to Europe this summer. I include myself; had everything gone to plan, I would have been sunning on the beaches of Paros, Greece, with family and friends right now.
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But you know what? I’m actually happy that Americans have been banned from the EU. It’s a good thing for us Americans, not just for the obvious public health reasons that will keep other regions safe from a resurgence of a virus they have worked diligently to contain. Being stuck on the sidelines while the rest of the world gets to experience the joy of European travel also provides us with a rare opportunity to think critically about the meaning of global citizenship. We shouldn’t waste it.
Americans are accustomed to thinking of our blue passports as keys to almost any country. Sure, we encounter visa requirements and fees here and there, but in general the barrier to access has largely boiled down to two questions: do I have the vacation time? And can I afford it? During the pre-pandemic era, the answer was a resounding yes. Thanks to rising numbers of paid days off and the lowest flight prices in commercial aviation history, more Americans were traveling than ever. In 2018, more than 83 million Americans traveled abroad, and the plurality – more than 16 million – went to Europe. May through September have historically been the most popular months for Americans to visit the continent, where our spending accounts for significant portions of many countries’ GDPs. In other words, the decision to ban Americans from the EU during prime travel season was not without its downsides, even for Europeans. But the costs of welcoming us ultimately outweighed the benefits.
This is a humiliating and humbling moment. The US has long had a reputation for leadership in coordinating responses to worldwide emergencies, including the 2008 economic meltdown and the 2014 Ebola crisis. In contrast, the current pandemic saw the US not only fail to lead on a global scale but fail to act on a domestic level. Other countries have led the way in terms of containment measures, while the US has been mired in politicized fights over the very existence or seriousness of the virus. The failures of American political leaders – and many of our citizens – to take the virus seriously have made the US the worst kind of world leader: we now have the highest number of confirmed cases and confirmed deaths from Covid-19.
Source: Americans can’t travel to Europe because of Covid-19. I’m glad | Tamara Winter
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