Biden: "Omicron Spreading Widely... Considering Lifting Travel Restrictions"

Appeal for Booster Shot Vaccination in National Address
Indicates Possibility of Passing Social Welfare Infrastructure Investment Bill

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. President Joe Biden has announced plans to lift travel restrictions aimed at blocking the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

On the 21st (local time), following a national address on the spread of the Omicron variant, President Biden stated, "We are considering lifting travel restrictions due to the Omicron variant."

President Biden acknowledged the ineffectiveness of the travel restrictions, saying, "The Omicron virus has spread much more widely than expected."

The United States implemented new travel restrictions last month on the 26th targeting eight countries, including South Africa, to block the entry of Omicron.

President Biden had anticipated no additional travel bans after that. This policy shift appears to have been prompted by Omicron overtaking Delta as the dominant strain in the U.S. the day before.

On the same day, President Biden announced measures to respond to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, including deploying 1,000 military medical personnel and providing 500 million free self-test kits.

Regarding the bottleneck caused by the surge in testing demand, he announced plans to establish the first federal government-run testing site in New York City, signaling a proactive response.

President Biden urged Americans to participate in vaccinations, noting that one of the few issues he and former President Donald Trump agree on is receiving booster shots.

Former President Trump revealed in a public interview last weekend that he had received a booster shot.

Meanwhile, President Biden asserted that his key policy, the social welfare infrastructure investment bill, has not been derailed and emphasized that the bill will help ease inflation. He also expressed optimism about working with Senator Joe Manchin, who opposed the bill, to achieve something.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.