An image of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Photo by AP / Kathy Willens.
As of midnight on June 12, travelers entering the United States will already do so it must not show a negative COVID test.
The official announcement of the resolution that puts an end is expected in the next few hours one of the latest mandatory measures against the pandemic that Washington has kept standing.
According to Associated Pressa senior administration official Joe Biden said in confidentially that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reassess the need for the negative test requirement every 90 days and that it could recover if a disturbing new variant emerges.
A COVID test center at Newark Airport in New Jersey. Photo: AFP
The tourism sector and the aviation industry have been asking the government for this measure for months. The claim has grown more insistent in recent weeks, after industry leaders said the restrictions were hitting a still fragile economy due to the effects of the pandemic.
In February, they claimed it was obsolete due to the large number of Omicron casesalong with higher vaccination rates and new treatments for the virus.
“I am delighted that the CDC has lifted the onerous coronavirus test requirement for international travelers and I will continue to do everything possible to support the strong recovery in our hospitality industry,” said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, DR Nevada , in a statement.
The measure comes six weeks after a federal judge put it end to the requirement of the mask for mass transportationincluding trains, planes, buses and transit centers, after claiming the CDC had overrun its authority.
The tourism industry had been asking for the measure for months, arguing that it was necessary to reactivate air traffic. Photo: EFE
The Biden administration has challenged the ruling, saying it intends to protect the CDC’s ability to respond to future health emergencies.
The United States launched the negative test requirement last year, after lifting the ban on non-essential travel from numerous countries – most of Europe, China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Iran – and focusing on classify people according to the risk they represent for everyone else.
This measure was complemented by the requirement that non-immigrant foreign adults travel to the United States must be fully vaccinatedwith limited exceptions.
The initial measure allowed those who had been fully vaccinated to show a negative test within three days of travelwhile unvaccinated people had to submit a test carried out the day before the trip.
Source: AP
Source: Clarin