Mike Pence
Mike PenceReuters

US Vice President Mike Pence has cancelled a trip to the Middle East and Europe planned for next week amid global spikes in coronavirus cases, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.

Pence had been discussing travel to countries including Israel, Bahrain and Belgium, after presiding over a January 6 joint session of Congress to finalize President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, the sources said. Pence’s office had never formally announced the trip.

The decision to cancel the travel plans, which would have been Pence’s last overseas trip before leaving office, comes amid overseas lockdowns and travel restrictions designed to curb the virus.

A newly-discovered COVID-19 variant in Britain recently caused its government to announce a stay at home order for part of the country.

In addition, several countries have temporarily stopped flights from Britain in an attempt to stop the variant from reaching these countries.

Pence, a long-time backer of the Jewish state, was in Israel this past January, where he addressed the central event of the World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.

The Vice President also visited Israel in 2018 as part of a trip to the Middle East.