Starting Jan. 5, the U.S. will require a pre-departure negative Covid test for anyone flying in from China, the CDC announced.
WASHINGTON — Starting Jan. 5, the U.S. will require a pre-departure negative Covid test for anyone flying in from China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. The new policy comes amid a surge in Covid cases in China and as fears that a new, concerning variant could emerge.
The CDC is also increasing the tracking of travelers coming to the U.S. who may have Covid by expanding the Traveler Genomic Surveillance program to include the airports in Seattle and Los Angeles. That brings the number of airports in the program to seven, including John F.
People who have been to these areas in the last 10 days and are connecting to the U.S. through Incheon International Airport in South Korea or Canada’s Toronto Pearson or Vancouver International airports must also provide a negative Covid test no more than two days before their departure to the U.S. Taiwan said Wednesday that travelers from mainland China would have to take a PCR test on arrival, with those who test positive allowed to isolate at home. Last week, India said it would make virus testing mandatory for travelers arriving from China as well as Japan, South Korea,A woman adjusts a child's mask at Beijing international airport on Dec. 29, 2022.
Nevertheless, Dr. Siddharth Sridhar, a clinical virologist at the University of Hong Kong, said the China outbreak poses little threat to countries like the U.S., which has a high level of immunity through infections and vaccinations, and that new requirements for travelers from China were unlikely to be effective.