Biden stated that discussions regarding when restrictions might be lifted are ongoing. Biden said that he expected to know “within the next few days” what was likely to happen. I am waiting to hear back from the COVID team about when this should happen.

“It’s in process now,” Biden said of discussions about when restrictions could be lifted. He said he expects to be able to answer “within the next several days what is likely to happen …  I’m waiting to hear from our folks in our COVID team as to when that should be done.”

Merkel claimed that Biden had told her the exact same thing he told the media, and they discussed the potential impact of the COVID-19 Delta version. It must be a long-term decision. Merkel stated that it is not sensible to return the decision after only a few days.

Airlines and others have asked the administration to lift restrictions on most non-U.S. citizens recently in Britain, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border control, Ireland, China and India, South Africa and Iran.

Many countries that are not subject to travel restrictions have COVID-19 rates far higher than those in Europe.

In early June, the White House launched interagency working groups with the European Union, Britain, Canada, and Mexico to look at how to eventually to lift restrictions. Those meetings have generally been occurring every two weeks but some have recently been delayed.

According to a White House official, “there are more discussions to be had before any next steps can be announced on travel reopening with any country… We want to ensure that we move deliberately in a position where it is safe to reopen international travel.”

Sources told Reuters that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would like airlines to use international passenger contact tracing in order to lift restrictions. It is not clear how long this will take.

Some government officials and airlines have stated that they don’t anticipate lifting the restrictions in the United States until August.