Policymakers are debating restrictions on flights between the U.S. and Europe.

The U.S. is discussing banning travel to and from Europe, though they may also opt to warn against all European travel and to impose a quarantine on European arrivals.

“The question is a live question, congressman, about how to treat Europe as a whole. You’ve seen Department of State and CDC warnings go up. That is not to the level of using legal authorities to block travel yet, but it is under discussion,”

…The advisers are considering raising travel alerts on Europe to recommend against all non-essential travel to the continent, which administration officials view as a new epicenter for the pandemic.

The administration could also mandate new quarantine measures for travelers returning from Europe.

An extreme scenario could also see the administration banning flights from European countries, though for now it appears the United Kingdom would be exempt.

In meetings today they were treating European countries as a single entity for this decision (or perhaps all Schengen countries), because (for the most part) there aren’t border restrictions in place between different countries. In other words, if they banned travel from one country, someone could fly to another and onward to the U.S. Of course they could do that anyway, flying first to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean and on a separate ticket to the U.S.

The U.K., thanks to Brexit, would not be a part of any ban or quarantine at this time.

I’d avoid European travel at this time simply because it may be more difficult to get back in the event of potential extreme policy responses.