Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
All Travelers Flying To US Will Have To Show Covid-Negative Test
AP: US Will Require All Arriving Passengers To Get COVID-19 Test
Anyone flying to the U.S. will soon need to show proof of a negative test for COVID-19, health officials announced Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirement expands on a similar one announced late last month for passengers coming from the United Kingdom. The new order takes effect in two weeks. (Stobbe and Koenig, 1/12)
The New York Times: Covid-19: U.S. To Require Negative Virus Tests From International Air Travelers
The new policy requires all air passengers, regardless of vaccination status, to get a test for current infection within the three days before their flight to the United States departs, and to provide written documentation of their test results or proof of having recovered from Covid-19. Proof of immunization will not be sufficient, because the vaccines have only been shown to prevent serious illness, said Jason McDonald, a spokesman for the C.D.C. Vaccinated people may still become infected, in theory, and transmit the virus on a flight. (1/13)
Reuters: U.S. To Require Negative COVID-19 Tests For Arriving International Air Passengers
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. (Shepardson, 1/12)
Politico: U.S. Will Require Covid Testing For Arriving International Flights
Long haul flights are particularly vulnerable to potential in-flight transmission of the virus because it's harder to avoid crowding and masks are difficult to keep on for the entire trip, according to Jeff Engel, senior adviser for Covid-19 at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. “Airlines are always reporting that they circulate their air through filters that filter out 99.9 percent of germs, which is true,” Engel said. “But transmission occurs through direct person-to-person spread without that air even going through the circulation system.” (Lim and Mintz, 1/12)
