Brazil travel ban set to start on Tuesday

FILE - In this May 17, 2020 file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a protective face mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus, joins in a protest against the Supreme Court and Brazil's National Congress, in Brasilia, Brazil. A profanity-laced video showing Bolsonaro expressing frustration at his inability to get information from police and vowing to change Cabinet ministers if needed to protect his family was released Friday, May 22, 2020, at the order of a Supreme Court justice in a new blow to a president whose popularity has been sagging. (AP Photo/Andre Borges, File) (Andre Borges, Andre Borges)

WASHINGTON – A ban on foreign travelers arriving in the U.S. from Brazil due to the surge in coronavirus cases there will now take effect late Tuesday, two days earlier than previously announced.

The ban had been set to go into effect late Thursday. The White House announced the change Monday without explanation.

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Brazil is second to the U.S. in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University, and has seen cases surge in recent days.

Medical workers move new coronavirus patient Rosane Pacheco to be treated at the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The White House cited Brazil’s status as Latin America’s hardest-hit country on Sunday when it announced the ban, saying it would prevent additional infections in the U.S.

Foreign nationals who have been to Brazil in the two weeks before they attempt to enter the U.S. are to be turned back under the ban. The ban does not apply to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, and their spouses, parents or children.

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