The White House said Monday that the U.S. will maintain its current travel restrictions, citing the Delta variant and the rise in cases driven by the highly infectious form of the coronavirus.
“Driven by the Delta variant, cases are rising here at home — particularly among those who are unvaccinated — and appear likely to continue in the weeks ahead,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in explaining the decision to keep the border controls in place.
“Nothing is indefinite,” she said, but she declined to provide a timeline on when the measures might be relaxed.
The U.S. has maintained a conservative stance on reopening its borders for discretionary travel, even as other countries such as Canada are loosening restrictions.
Psaki said administration officials remain in “active discussion about a range of steps that can be taken” on travel, guided by its own health experts.
“For any of these recommendations, we are always going to be guided by our North Star, which is the CDC and our health and medical experts,” she said.
Psaki declined to say whether the U.S. would extend the mask mandate on public transportation, which is set to expire in September.
“I don’t want to get ahead of any guidance by our CDC, but certainly they will continue to provide guidance on masks that keeps more people safe,” she said.
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