The European Union is set to impose a travel ban on Lebanon and 5 other countries, EU officials have told Reuters.
The officials said that the EU was starting procedures to remove the U.S., Lebanon, Israel, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro from its travel safe-list, particularly for non-essential travel.
The EU Council is expected to announce the decision officially on Monday, the sources said, noting that it had been taken on Friday.
The removal from the safe list is a recommendation for EU member states to reimpose an entry ban on travelers from the aforementioned countries.
Nonetheless, after the decision takes effect, member states will reportedly have the option to individually impose travel restrictions or not.
The countries affected by the move have all been seeing a spike in new coronavirus (COVID-19) infections.
Over the past week, Lebanon has confirmed 8,295 new COVID-19 cases and 33 deaths related to the virus.
On Sunday, the country registered 1,153 new infections and 4 new deaths.
EU countries had lifted their travel ban for passengers coming from Lebanon back in June when the epidemiological situation was more under control in the crisis-hit country.
We have a dedicated coronavirus section where you can find the latest news/updates about the pandemic in Lebanon, inform yourself with WHO-verified resources, and track the number of cases in Lebanon in real-time. Click here.
