US mulls negative Covid-19 tests for passengers from Britain as airlines agree to screen them
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The White House coronavirus task force is discussing the possibility of temporarily halting inbound passenger flights from the United Kingdom.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK (REUTERS) - The US government is considering requiring all passengers travelling from the United Kingdom to receive a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure as a condition of entry, airline and US officials briefed on the matter said Monday (Dec 21).
A White House coronavirus task force discussed requiring pre-flight tests after a meeting on Monday regarding the emergence of a highly infectious new coronavirus strain in Britain that prompted dozens of countries to close their borders to Britain.
Airline and US officials said requiring testing for UK arrivals won backing among task force members. The White House has yet to make a final decision on the matter, they said.
Earlier, airlines operating flights from London to John F. Kennedy International Airport voluntarily agreed to a request from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that they only allow passengers who test negative to fly.
The three airlines - British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic - said they would begin screening passengers on those routes this week.
Major Transatlantic carriers, which have drastically cut flights during the pandemic, have been implementing pilot Covid-19 testing between some US and European cities as a way to create safe "travel corridors" and help reduce quarantines and government restrictions.
United Airlines, which has issued a travel waiver for US flights to Heathrow between Dec 21, 2020, and Jan 17, is operating four daily flights to London in December but said earlier this month it would cut those in half beginning in January. Last winter it operated 20 daily flights to the UK.
Last month, task force members recommended the White House end the restrictions that ban most non-US citizens from entering the United States if they have been in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and the 26 countries in the so-called Schengen border-free area of Europe within the previous two weeks.
Dozens of countries, though not the United States, closed their borders to Britain on Monday, causing travel chaos.
Mr Cuomo, who shares oversight of the airport through state agency the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has said the US government should also stop flights from Britain, though he acknowledged that may come too late to prevent the spread of the new strain.
"I believe intuitively it's already here," he said, "because if it's been flying around the world, it's been here."
Some airline officials hoped the addition of new testing requirements could help suspend the entry restrictions.
On Nov 21, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations calling for testing before and after international air travel.
CDC last month recommended international air travellers get tested with a viral test 1-3 days before their flight to reduce spread during travel and travelers should get tested 3-5 days after travel and stay home for 7 days.
