This decision will be effective from 28th December,2020.
The US Government will require all airline passengers arriving from the United Kingdom to test negative for COVID-19 72 hours or less before their departure. This order will be effective from Monday, 28th December,2020. The decision comes after a new and more infectious mutated strain of COVID-19 was found in the United Kingdom which prompted has more than 40 countries to shut their borders to travellers from United Kingdom.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that all airline passengers arriving from the UK must test negative in order to fly to the US.
“The public health authorities in the United Kingdom recently announced the discovery of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2. Viruses constantly change through mutation, and preliminary analysis in the U.K. suggests that this new variant may be up to 70% more transmissible than previously circulating variants.”, states CDC on its website.
The decision was a U-turn after the Trump administration told US Airlines on Tuesday that it was it planning to require any testing for passengers arriving from the UK.
The CDC added that passengers are required to provide written documentation of their laboratory test results (in hard copy or soft copy) to the airline. “If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.”, CDC added.
Earlier, British Airways, Delta and Virgin Atlantic said they were requiring a negative COVID-19 test result on flights from United Kingdom to New York after they agreed to a request from New York governor, Andrew Cuomo. Delta’s policy, expanded from its decision on Monday to require screenings on UK flights to New York’s JFK airport, was effective from 24 December, while United’s requirement begins on 28 December.