US President Donald Trump on Monday revoked entry bans imposed because of COVID-19 on travellers arriving from Brazil and much of Europe effective January 26, AFP reported.

“This action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from COVID-19 while enabling travel to resume safely,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House, AFP reported.

Although travel bans remain in place for China and Iran.

Quickly dismissing Trump’s announcement, President-elect Joe Biden’s spokeswoman tweeted moments later: “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26.”

“In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

Biden will be inaugurated on Wednesday as the 46th President of the United States.

The announcement from the outgoing president comes days after the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed an order requiring a negative COVID-19 test before departure for all incoming air passengers. 

The restrictions are set to end under a new proclamation from Trump the same day that new COVID-19 test policy takes effect for all international visitors.

The CDC recommends that travellers get tested again three to five days after their arrival, and stay home for at least seven days.

The restrictions had barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who within the last 14 days have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the 26 countries of the Schengen area in Europe that allow travel across open borders, Reuters reported.

The U.S. restrictions barring most visitors from Europe have been in place since mid-March when Trump, who is due to leave office on Wednesday, signed proclamations imposing them, while the Brazilian entry ban was imposed in May.

Many officials for months argued the restrictions no longer made sense given most countries were not subject to the entry bans. Others have argued the United States should not drop entry bans since many European countries still block most U.S. citizens.

However, some epidemiologists have warned it is likely that new, more transmissible variants are already establishing themselves in the United States, the hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic.

As of Monday, the US had recorded more than 24 million cases of COVID-19, with nearly 400,000 deaths.