WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Almost all air passengers will need to submit a negative coronavirus test to enter the United States under the expanded test requirements announced on Tuesday.
According to the rules that take effect on January 26, almost all travelers, including US citizens, must present a negative test within three days of departure or COVID-19 recovery documentation, under an order signed by the Director from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield.
All travelers from 2 years old must obey, except passengers who are only in transit through the United States. The CDC will also consider waiving test requirements for airlines flying to countries with little or no testing capacity, including some places in the Caribbean.
The order dramatically expands the requirement imposed on December 28 for travelers arriving from the UK as a more transmissible variant of the virus that circulates there.
In an interview, Marty Cetron, director of the CDC’s global migration and quarantine division, said: “We really need to raise the stakes … We have to take these mutations seriously.”
Canada has imposed similar rules for almost all international arrivals as of January 7, as have many other countries.
The CDC confirmed last week that it had circulated a proposal to expand the test requirement after discussing the idea for weeks. Some senior White House officials objected to this, and officials briefed on the matter said last week that U.S. public health officials basically gave up on obtaining approval until President-elect Joe Biden took office.
At a meeting at the White House on Monday, Redfield again made an urgent case to adopt the test requirements, people informed about the meeting said. He raised concerns that vaccines might not be effective against variants of the virus.
Airlines for America, a commercial group in the sector, praised the test plan. Airlines also wanted the ban to be lifted from most non-American visitors who have recently been to Brazil and most of Europe, but the White House chose not to end it.
Cetron said entry restrictions should “be actively reconsidered”.
Cetron confirmed that the CDC discussed the idea of expanding the testing requirement for domestic flights in the United States, but emphasized that the new order only applies to international flights.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese, Dan Grebler and Cynthia Osterman