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The Biden administration on Friday said it will lift pre-departure testing requirements for all travelers coming into the United States from overseas, removing as of midnight on Sunday one of the last COVID-19 travel restrictions still in place in America.
The CDC decided “based on the science and data” that it was time to lift the restriction, a senior administration official told POLITICO on Friday. “The CDC will do a reassessment of this decision in 90 days, and as with other policies, CDC will continue to evaluate it on an ongoing basis,” the official said.
The airline and travel industry have been pressing for some time for the restrictions to be lifted, saying it’s discouraging air travel at a time when passengers are showing increasing interest in taking to the skies.
The Omicron variant surge propelled the Biden administration in November to tighten COVID restrictions for people flying into the United States, requiring a negative COVID test just one day prior to travel. Depending on COVID-19 subvariants, the pre-departure testing rule could come back, the official said.
“If there is a need to reinstate a pre-departure testing requirement — including due to a new, concerning variant — CDC will not hesitate to act.”
Leaders from Airlines for America — which represents major air carriers — and the U.S. Travel Association last month met with White House officials to again ask the administration to scrap the testing requirement, arguing that COVID cases are subsiding worldwide. In addition, they argued that air travel shouldn’t be singled out when other mass gatherings have no such restriction.
Furthermore, they said, the U.S. does not require testing for travelers crossing a land border to get in, and the federal government doesn’t require a negative COVID test to travel domestically. According to an analysis from Morning Consult, 39 percent of Americans have said the testing requirements make them less willing to travel internationally, said Lindsey Roeschke, Morning Consult’s travel and hospitality analyst.
Tori Emerson Barnes, U.S. Travel’s executive vice president of public affairs and policy, told the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion on Tuesday the association estimates that “9 billion in travel spending could happen this year” should the U.S. leave pre-departure testing behind “right now.”
“So it really is important that we do that,” she said.
The senior administration official on Friday said the CDC still recommends testing prior to air travel of “any kind.”
“We will be working with the airlines and other partners to ensure a smooth transition,” the official said.
Source: Politico
