USA trips will need negative COVID test
- by Valerie Santiago
- in Medical
- — Jan 14, 2021
In wake of the new and more infectious strain of Coronavirus in the United Kingdom, travellers going there will need a Covid negative report of a test done within 72 hours of departure, from Friday (Jan 15) and those going from certain countries will be required to self-isolate themselves for 10 days on arrival even if they do not have the infection.
To further protect the American public and slow the spread of the disease, the CDC is recommending fliers get tested again 3-5 days after returning and stay home for 7 days post-travel.
Late Wednesday night the Department for Transport fleshed out the details of the new policy and confirmed that even rapid-result lateral flow tests would be fine.
If a passenger had tested positive for coronavirus in the past three months and can produce a letter from a doctor clearing them for travel, it can serve as a "documentation of recovery".
Airlines must deny service to any passenger not showing proof of a negative test or recovery or who refuses to take a test, and confirm all passengers' documentation before boarding.
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"With the USA already in surge status, the testing requirement for air passengers will help slow the spread of the virus as we work to vaccinate the American public", the CDC said in a statement.
The order affects US citizens as well as foreign travelers.
"[We are] writing to express our support for a [CDC] proposal to control the spread of COVID-19, including variants of the virus, by implementing a global program to require testing for travelers to the United States", the industry group Airlines for America wrote to Vice President Mike Pence on January 4.
The order was signed by CDC Director Robert Redfieldon yesterday and will become effective on January 26.
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But the new order may stop or reduce spread of other versions of the virus, like the one recently identified in South Africa.
Officials briefed on the matter said United States public health officials had essentially given up winning approval until president-elect Joe Biden took office.
For people arriving from countries not on the Travel Corridor list, they will still be required to complete a mandatory self-isolation period, and the Travel Corridors list is regularly reviewed to manage the risk of imported cases of COVID-19 from high-risk countries.
Airlines have been pushing for pre-flight testing instead of continued travel restrictions between the USA and the rest of the world.
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