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WASHINGTON: The US government may expand coronavirus testing requirements for international air travelers beyond Britain starting next week, sources informed about the matter told Reuters on Wednesday (December 30).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other U.S. agencies had a lengthy call with U.S. airlines on Wednesday to discuss expanding COVID-19 testing requirements to travelers arriving from other countries, they said. sources informed about the call.
The US government on Monday began requiring all airline passengers arriving from Britain, including US citizens, to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure.
The CDC said in a statement Wednesday that “efforts are currently underway in the US to assess risk reduction associated with testing and other recommended preventive measures, determine what a feasible testing regimen for air travel may look like and obtain some level of agreement on standards for a harmonized approach to testing for international air travel. “
A spokesman for the US Department of Transportation confirmed that the call was made with the airlines.
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Airlines told government agencies on Wednesday that any new testing requirements should be phased in by country and that it needs to be determined whether there is sufficient testing capacity and the willingness to allocate those tests to facilitate international travel before expanding the requirements, said the sources.
Officials said the White House could make a decision next week on adding new countries to the testing requirements, but it is unclear when those new requirements will take effect.
On Tuesday, US Undersecretary of Health Brett Giroir said coronavirus testing for UK travelers should likely be extended to other countries.
The UK test was adopted amid concerns about a new coronavirus variant that could be more transmittable. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday that the state discovered a case of the highly infectious variant of the coronavirus.
One issue is whether the White House would remove restrictions that prohibit most non-U.S. Citizens from coming to the United States if they have been to much of Europe or Brazil in the past 14 days as part of the new testing requirements.
Giroir noted Tuesday that the restrictions have led to a 90% to 95% decrease in travel from Britain.
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