| Tourists reenter the US now that the pandemic travel ban has lifted (CNBC) For more than a year and a half, visitors from 33 countries, including the UK, most of Europe, and China, were barred from entering the US. But starting today, tourists from much of the world are reentering the US, as the pandemic travel ban has been lifted. International travelers can fly into the US if they have proof that they've been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, though exemptions are in place for children and people from countries where vaccines are scarce. Airlines have said bookings have gone way up since the White House announced the end of the ban, and a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told CNBC that US flights are 98 percent full today. An appeals court pauses the vaccine mandate for large businesses (CBS News) On Saturday, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in New Orleans, granted an emergency stay of the federal vaccine requirement for companies with more than 100 employees. Circuit court decisions like this normally only apply to the states within a given district—Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, for the 5th Circuit—but Louisiana's Attorney General has said the language the judges have used could have national implications. At least 27 states have challenged the federal vaccine rule, but the Biden Administration has said it's confident the requirement will persist. Cases surge in Germany amid a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" (Al Jazeera) Cases are going back up in Germany, largely among people who remain unvaccinated. The seven-day incidence rate was higher today than it was in December of last year. Unlike many other countries in Europe, Germany hasn't made vaccinations mandatory for any professional group, and at present around 67 percent of the population is fully inoculated. In order to encourage people to get their shots, Germany recently got rid of its free testing. Now, each Covid test costs 19 euros ($22). |
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