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The United States will require all airline passengers arriving from the United Kingdom to test negative for Covid-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday amid concerns about a new variant of the coronavirus that could be more transmissible.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that all airline passengers arriving from the UK must test negative to fly to the United States.
The decision was a sea change after the Trump administration told US airlines on Tuesday that it did not plan to require any testing from passengers arriving in the UK.
The decision follows the emergence of a highly infectious new variant of the coronavirus in Britain that has prompted many countries to close their borders to travelers from there.
United Airlines and Delta Airlines said yesterday that they were requiring all passengers on flights from the UK to the US to submit a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure.
The CDC said passengers must test negative through a PCR or antigen test.
The CDC said that “viruses are constantly changing through mutation, and preliminary analysis in the UK suggests that this new variant may be up to 70% more transmissible than previously circulating variants.”
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The CDC noted that in March President Donald Trump suspended the entry of almost all foreign nationals who visited the United Kingdom in the past 14 days, reducing air travel to the United States from Britain by about 90%.
Under the new policy, passengers departing from the United Kingdom for the United States must provide written documentation of their lab test result (paper or electronic) to the airline, the CDC said.
Airlines must confirm negative test results for all passengers before boarding. If passengers choose not to take the test, the airline must deny boarding.
The CDC said the order will be signed today and take effect Monday.
Delta’s policy, expanded since its decision Monday to require inspections on UK flights to New York’s JFK airport, has been in effect as of yesterday, while United’s requirement begins on December 28.
On Monday, the three airlines that fly from London to JFK – Delta, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic – accepted a request from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to screen passengers from Britain.
American airlines have already slashed flights to the UK, as well as the rest of Europe.
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