The United States Government wants all international passengers to provide a negative Covid-19 test before they board a flight into the country. This is according to a report from the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control Prevention in the US.
The new rule will also affect United States citizens in the country.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) “Before departure to the United States, a required test, combined with the CDC recommendations to get tested again 3-5 days after arrival and stay home for 7 days post-travel, will help slow the spread of COVID-19 within US communities from travel-related infections. Pre-departure testing with results known and acted upon before travel begins will help identify infected travelers before they board airplanes.”
Based on this, all Air Passengers are required to conduct a test within 3 days before their flight to the US. departs.
“Air passengers are required to get a viral test (a test for current infection) within the 3 days before their flight to the U.S. departs, and provide written documentation of their laboratory test result (paper or electronic copy) to the airline or provide documentation of having recovered from COVID-19. Airlines must confirm the negative test result for all passengers or documentation of recovery before they board. If a passenger does not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery or chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.”
The order was signed by the CDC Director on January 12, 2021, and will become effective on January 26, 2021.
Last week the US imposed a testing requirement for travelers from the United Kingdom over cases of a new strain of the virus which has also been reported in the US.
What this means: New travel requirements for the negative Covid-19 test will negatively affect the global aviation sector which attracts over 340 million arrivals annually according to 2019 data seen by Nairametrics.
- For third-world countries like Nigeria, travellers into the US will need to conduct the Covid-19 test before they depart from the United States piling pressure on testing centers across the country.
- Though a requirement that most Nigerians are already familiar with, there will likely be pressure to avoid testing positive a few days before departure to the US.
- Nigerians who travelled to Dubai during the Christmas holiday were also required to undertake covid-19 tests
- Nigeria also requires visitors into the country to take the Covid-19 test before departing for Nigeria.
The global Covid-19 caseloads topped 90 million with the United States leading the pack with 22.7 million cases and over 379,000 deaths
Just last week, the United Kingdom said that all passengers arriving in the country will be required to show negative Covid-19 test results taken within 72 hours of the commencement of their journey to prove they do not have the disease. Ireland also announced new travel rules which require visitors into the country to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours before arriving in the country.
Going further, the United Kingdom said on Thursday that it would extend a ban to international passengers from Southern African countries coming into the country, as part of the measures aimed at preventing the spread of a new strain of Covid-19 variant identified in South Africa.
Nigeria also requires travellers into the country to carry out a second Covid-19 test after arrival into the country or face consequences. Last week the Nigerian immigration service announced the suspension of 100 passports belonging to Nigerian passengers who refused to undergo second Covid-19 tests within 7 days of arrival into Nigeria from overseas travel.
This article was updated following new information.
