Canada has made the list of a few countries the European Union will consider opening their borders for on July 1.
The European Council released a list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted on Tuesday. Canada is on a list of 15 countries that also includes China, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand.
The United States is not on the list. The U.S. currently holds the most number of COVID-19 cases in one country, having had a total of 2.6 million cases. Canada will continue to limit non-essential travel with the U.S. until July 21, with some Canadians wanting the border shut for even longer.
The Canadian border is also closed for most foreign travellers till July 31.
In a press release, the European Council said they would be gradually easing travel restrictions on a case-by-case basis. The list will be updated every two weeks, meaning that countries could be taken off the list given their respective COVID-19 situations.
The list is also simply a recommendation from the European Council, but European countries will be in charge of how and when they implement lifting border restrictions. Travellers should check on the conditions each country has set in place — some require visitors to quarantine themselves when they arrive.
This list doesn’t apply to the United Kingdom either, as it officially left the European Union this year. But travellers are allowed to enter the U.K., so long as they provide their travel details to British authorities and self-isolate once they get there.
Countries that have made the list meet the council’s criteria of having their new number of COVID-19 cases either close to or below the European Union’s average per 100,000 inhabitants. As of June 3, the EU, including the United Kingdom, has 1.5 million cases.
The criteria also takes into account if countries have stabilized or decreased the number of new cases in the past 14 days.
Though the government of Canada is still officially recommending residents avoid all non-essential travel outside the country, Canadians will be able to legally travel to Europe, once the respective European countries finalize their travel restrictions. The Canadian government requires travellers returning to the country to immediately self-isolate for 14 days and monitor themselves for symptoms.