The United States government is expected to require all passengers on international airlines to present proof of a negative Covid-19 test before embarking on flights to the country, people familiar with the matter said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to issue its order as early as Tuesday, after weeks of discussions between federal agencies and the White House coronavirus task force. The order is expected to take effect on January 26, according to a person familiar with the matter. CDC and other government officials were still completing the order.
The CDC’s request for universal passenger testing, including for American citizens returning from abroad, comes weeks after the Trump administration imposed a test requirement for UK travelers because of concerns about a more infectious strain of the virus that was detected there. Since then, the new strain has been found in other parts of the world and its presence in the United States has been confirmed.
The US requirement comes during a difficult time for the aviation industry and international travelers facing a range of varied testing protocols and quarantine requirements around the world, including public health notices asking people to stay at home.
US airlines expressed support for the new requirement, but argued that accelerated test protocols should replace travel restrictions and quarantines to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
Travel bubbles are being developed in some places in an effort to revive air travel, which plummeted during the pandemic. WSJ explains how reopening the skies without quarantine requirements at both ends of a trip can help restart the global economy. Illustration: Crystal Tai
The Canadian government recently started demanding that international arriving passengers present proof of a negative Covid-19 test before boarding a flight to Canada. A group of Canadian airlines said the rule would be a challenge to enforce.
Airlines for America, a U.S. trade group, said that “a well-planned program focused on increasing traveler testing to the United States will promote these goals far more effectively than the general travel restrictions currently in place,” according to a letter from its chief executive, Nick Calio, sent on January 4 to Vice President Mike Pence.
Mr. Calio said the requirement should take into account countries where testing is limited, and he suggested that the government make rapid tests available for the effort. He also mentioned other complications, such as what to do with passengers on short international round trips.
The USA currently prohibits travelers from certain countries, including the United Kingdom, European countries and China, if they are not US citizens or permanent residents. Americans are also prohibited from visiting many countries, including most of Europe.
Before Covid-19 infection increased on both sides of the Atlantic in recent months, UK and US authorities were working on developing a “travel corridor” that would provide passengers with reduced quarantines after mandatory tests before departure and upon arrival to avoid quarantine. For now, airlines have started to introduce test protocols on certain routes that could eventually fit with international agreements to avoid quarantines.
—Alison Sider and Andrew Tangel contributed to this article.
Write to Michelle Hackman at [email protected] and Andrew Restuccia at [email protected]
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