EU Countries Urged to Halt Non-Essential Travel From India

People wearing protective face masks wait to receive their second dose of COVISHIELD, a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, outside a vaccination centre in Kolkata, India, May 12, 2021. Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

BRUSSELS—The European Union’s executive on Wednesday called on countries of the bloc to temporarily halt non-essential travel from India, to limit the spread of a COVID-19 variant.

The European Commission said its proposal followed the World Health Organisation’s proposal on Monday to reclassify the B.1.617.2 variant of COVID-19 found in India as a “variant of concern,” raising the alert from a “variant of interest.”