Children wait for transportation at a bus stop during a lockdown in New Delhi, India on Friday. | AP photo
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden prepares to curtail travel from India starting next week as the country grapples with a massive coronavirus outbreak, a White House official confirmed.
The decision was made on the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but does not apply to U.S. citizens or humanitarian workers. It will officially come into effect on May 4th.
The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The restrictions follow a growing health crisis in India currently in the midst of the world’s worst Covid-19 outbreak.
The U.S. began delivering a range of medical supplies to the country on Thursday, including oxygen and protective equipment. It also sends the materials needed to make 20 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine.
However, the growing death toll in India has also put pressure on the government to do more to help the rest of the world stamp out the pandemic.
Earlier this week, Biden promised to send 60 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses overseas after calling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the recordings must first go through a security clearance that can take weeks and Administrative officials remain divided on when more sustained efforts should be made to support the Covid-19 response in other countries.
The White House is now facing calls from progressive groups and even some Democrats in Congress to step up its aid to India.
“The United States cannot stand idly by as millions suffer from this pandemic,” Sen said. Elizabeth Warren wrote in a letter on Wednesday after Biden. “In the face of this growing humanitarian crisis, I urge you to use all tools and resources available to the United States to help India.”
Biden made limited travel from a number of countries in the first few months of his presidency, including reintroducing Trump-era bans on non-US travelers from Brazil, the UK, Ireland and dozens of other European countries. The government also restricted travel from South Africa in January in response to the emergence of a more transferable new variant of Covid.
