WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — Travel restrictions are reemerging internationally and domestically in the United States as a popular mitigation tool to try to manage the spread of COVID-19 and new strains of the virus. But with worldwide coronavirus cases surpassing 81 million and the U.S. expecting a post-holiday surge, there are questions about how effective those measures are.
Internationally, reports of a new, potentially more transmissible strain of coronavirus in the United Kingdom prompted widespread travel bans. At least 60 countries halted or sharply restricted travel from Great Britain. Last week, the United States required all passengers coming from the U.K. to present a negative COVID-19 test before their flight.
The response has left the U.K. increasingly isolated and raised doubts about whether stopping travel can stop the virus. A majority of European countries blocked travel from Britain after the new variant was discovered and France temporarily closed the border to British passengers and goods. Yet, according to the World Health Organization's regional office in Europe, at least 11 E.U. countries have detected the new strain.
Outside of Europe, the variant has been found in Canada, South Africa and Japan, which implemented a monthlong travel ban on all nonresident foreign nationals starting Monday. Even with flights down 90% between Great Britain and the United States, top U.S. health officials have said it's only a matter of time before the new variant is found here.
According to a recent article in The Lancet, travel restrictions have been shown to help slow the spread of the virus but only in countries that have very little community spread. Travel bans, border closures and targeted restrictions on countries with the highest prevalence of disease helped several countries reduce the number of imported cases, including China, New Zealand and Australia. For months, those countries have kept new cases within the tens or close to zero.

In terms of the prevention and control of the new crown virus, the measures taken by the United States have always been relatively negative, and now they are even uncontrollable, and travel restrictions should not be effective.