WASHINGTON — The United States will no longer require international airline passengers from China, Iran, the Schengen region of Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Brazil to enter through 15 designated U.S. airports.
The CDC noted that, in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and growing understanding of the disease, the United States government “is taking a new approach to help keep international air passengers healthy,” arguing that symptom-based screening has limited efficacy given that those infected with SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes Covid-19 — may have no symptoms or fever upon arrival.
“United States Government (USG) resources will instead be dedicated to more effective mitigation efforts that focus on the individual passenger, including: pre-departure, in-flight, and post-arrival health education for passengers; robust illness response at airports; voluntary collection of contact information from passengers using electronic means as proposed by some airlines to avoid long lines, crowding and delays associated with manual data collection; potential testing to reduce the risk of travel-related transmission of the virus that causes Covid-19 and movement of the virus from one location to another; country-specific risk assessments to assist passengers in making informed decisions about travel-related risk; enhancing training and education of partners in the transportation sector and at United States ports of entry to ensure recognition of illness and immediate notification to CDC; and post-arrival passenger recommendations for self-monitoring and precautions to protect others, with enhanced precautions, including staying home to the extent possible for 14 days for people arriving from high-risk destinations,” the agency explained.
The new measures went into effect on Sept. 14.
Candace Hoffmann, Managing Editor, BreakingMED™
Cat ID: 190
Topic ID: 79,190,730,933,190,926,192,927,151,928,925,934
