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US may require foreign visitors to get vaccine as worldwide cases total 200M

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The Biden administration is taking the first steps toward requiring nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. be vaccinated for the coronavirus, a White House official said Wednesday. The same day COVID-19 cases topped 200 million worldwide.

“That’s not a decision at this point. That’s one of the paths that’s being looked at,” White House Coronavirus Coordinator Jeff Zients said.

The raw video above shows more from Thursday’s White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing.

The requirement would come as part of the administration’s approach to ease restrictions for foreign travelers to the U.S. No timeline for that has been determined.

The Biden administration has kept tight travel restrictions in place citing the spread of the Delta variant as at least part of the reason why. Under U.S. rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, much or the European Union, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the last two weeks are not allowed to enter the U.S.

All travelers to the U.S., regardless of vaccination status, are required to show proof of a negative test taken within three days of flying to the U.S.

There have been more than 200 million cases of COVID-19 recorded worldwide with more than 4.2 million deaths. According to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University more than 35 million Americans have tested positive and more than 615,000 Americans have died.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky, cases continue to rise. “Yesterday, CDC reported 103,445 new cases of COVID-19. Our seven-day average is about 89,463 cases per day. This represents an increase of 43% from the prior seven-day average,” Dr. Walensky said. “The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 7,348 per day, an increase of about 41% from the prior seven-day period. And seven-day average daily deaths have also increased to 381 per day, an increase of more than 39% from the previous seven-day period.”

At the briefing, Zients also talked about businesses and institutions starting to put vaccine requirements in place. “Small businesses across the country are stepping up. A recent study shows that half of America’s small businesses are likely to require their employees to be vaccinated,” Zients said. “Our message is quite simple, we support these vaccination requirements to protect workers, communities and the country.”

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Jeff Zients, White House Coronavirus coordinator: “The United States will maintain the existing travel restrictions at this point, however, you do have, as you alluded to, agency working groups that are developing plans for when we do open travel, how do we do it in a consistent and safe way. And part of that planning is a phased approach that foreign nationals traveling to the United States may, there’s still policy work being done here, may need to have some type of a vaccine requirement. But that’s not a decision at this point. That’s one of the paths that’s being looked at.”

“Driven by the more transmissible Delta variant cases are continuing to rise. These cases are concentrated in communities with low vaccination rates. In fact, over the past seven days, Florida and Texas have accounted for about one third of new cases and more than one third of new hospitalizations nationwide. In seven states alone, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, states with some of the lowest vaccination rates account for about half of new cases and hospitalizations in the past week, despite making up less than a quarter of the US population.”

“Businesses know vaccinations are a way to keep their workers and customers safe and to keep their doors open. And today, Yelp is announcing a new feature that allows consumers to search for businesses with fully vaccinated workers or businesses that require proof of vaccination to enter the business. Small businesses across the country are stepping up. A recent study shows that half of America’s small businesses are likely to require their employees to be vaccinated.”

“So, America’s businesses, large and small, universities and medical schools and many other institutions are stepping up on vaccination requirements. And our message is quite simple, we support these vaccination requirements to protect workers, communities and the country.”

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Yesterday, CDC reported 103,445 new cases of COVID-19. Our seven-day average is about 89,463 cases per day. This represents an increase of 43% from the prior seven-day average. The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 7348 per day, an increase of about 41% from the prior seven-day period. And seven-day average daily deaths have also increased to 381 per day, an increase of more than 39% from the previous seven-day period. We saw 614 new deaths reported to CDC on Tuesday.”