|
 Under the rules taking effect Jan. 26, nearly all travelers
including U.S. citizens must show a negative test within three days
of departure or documentation of recovery from COVID-19, under an
order signed by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) Director Robert Redfield.
All travelers aged 2 and older must comply except passengers who are
only transiting through the United States. The CDC will also
consider waivers of testing requirements for airlines flying to
countries with little or no testing capacity, including some places
in the Caribbean.
The order dramatically broadens a requirement imposed on Dec. 28 for
travelers arriving from the UK as a more transmissible variant of
the virus circulated there.
In an interview, Marty Cetron, director of CDC's global migration
and quarantine division, said, "We to have really up the ante... We
have to take these mutations seriously."
Canada imposed similar rules for nearly all international arrivals
starting Jan. 7, as have many other countries.
The CDC confirmed last week it had circulated a proposal to expand
the testing requirement after discussing the idea for weeks. Some
senior White House officials opposed it, and officials briefed on
the matter said last week that U.S. public health officials had
essentially given up winning approval until President-elect Joe
Biden took office.
[to top of second column] |
 At a White House meeting on Monday, Redfield again made an urgent
case to adopt the testing requirements, people briefed on the
meeting said. He raised concerns that vaccines could potentially not
be effective against virus variants. Airlines for America, an industry trade group, praised the testing
plan. Airlines had also wanted a ban to be dropped on most non-U.S.
visitors who have recently been in Brazil and most of Europe, but
the White House opted not to end it.
Cetron said the entry restrictions should "be actively
reconsidered."
Cetron confirmed the CDC has discussed the idea of expanding the
testing requirement to domestic U.S. flights but emphasized the new
order only applies to international flights.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese, Dan Grebler
and Cynthia Osterman)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content
 |
