Reunions galore as US opens international borders

The United States has fully reopened its borders to vaccinated travellers as Russia records nearly 40,000 daily infections and 1,100 deaths. This comes as a Belgian health agency raises concerns that particles in face masks are potentially carcinogenic.

Source: EPA

The travel ban, first imposed in early 2020, had barred access to non-US citizens travelling from 33 countries - including China, India and much of Europe - and also restricted overland entry from Mexico and Canada.  The unprecedented restrictions have prevented people from reuniting with families, attending weddings, saying goodbye at funerals, and greeting new babies. Meanwhile, Russians have returned to work after a mandated nine-day break with authorities expressing uncertainty whether the measure helped tame a record-breaking surge of coronavirus infections and deaths.  EU authorities say there is no conclusive evidence of a cancer risk from synthetic face masks and are urging people to keep wearing them.