The change will take effect at midnight on Sunday for all passengers arriving by plane. Kevin Munoz, the White House’s assistant press secretary, wrote on Twitter that Joe Biden’s work on vaccines and treatments was “critical” to growth. He said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will monitor “on the basis of science and in the context of the circulating variants”, but at the moment it is considered that the tests are no longer necessary. Most countries, including the United Kingdom, have already abandoned testing requirements in an effort to bring international travel back to pre-COVID levels. Previously fully vaccinated arrivals in the US could show a negative test result within three days of travel, with unvaccinated travelers being tested within one day of their trip. But when the Omicron variant swept the U.S. in November, Mr. Biden stepped up the rules to require all adults outside the U.S. to take the test overnight. The abolition of “burdensome” testing will stimulate the travel industry Travel executives across the US have been urging the government to drop testing requirements for months, arguing that it prevents people from booking international travel. “I am pleased that the CDC has suspended the burdensome requirement for coronavirus testing for international travelers and will continue to do what I can to support the strong recovery of our hospitality industry,” Nevada Senator Cortez Masto said in a statement. Read more: COVID infections in the UK are rising for the first time in two months It comes six weeks after a federal judge lifted the CDC’s requirement to use a mask on all trains, planes, buses and public transportation junctions. The Biden government is challenging the decision, arguing that it would help better manage future health emergencies.
