Negative COVID-19 Test Mandatory For US Travel From January 26
Evidence of a negative coronavirus test will become mandatory from all incoming travelers into the United States of America as from the 26th of January, 2021, according to a new order issued by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.
The order which applies to Nigerian travelers as well now requires international travelers coming into the country to get a viral test within three days of departure and share their negative results with their airline before a flight.
The order comes as the US authorities grapple to contain surging COVID-19 cases across the country and weeks of record-high hospitalisations.
Persons that continue to test positive after recovery will need to submit documentation of proof of recovery from the virus to airlines, which are required to verify them.
Airlines “must deny boarding” those that decide not to test or provide results, the CDC said.
Travelers are also to get tested again three to five days after arriving in the US as well as quarantine at home for seven days post-travel. “Testing does not eliminate all risk, but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier, and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports, and at destinations,”
CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield said in the statement.
The universal testing decision is also part of efforts by the government to slow the spread of a more contagious variant of the virus, originally found in the United Kingdom, but has now spread to at least six states in the US.
Travelers (including non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents) from Europe, the UK, and China are l barred from entering the US with or without a negative test.
