British Travelers Must Test Negative to Visit the USA

The U.S. CDC announced that airline passengers must get a viral coronavirus test within the 3 days before their flight from the U.K. to the USA beginning December 28, 2020. They must also provide written documentation of their laboratory test result to the airline that must confirm the negative test result for all passengers before they board the airplane.

If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.

'This new order is consistent with the measures that have been taken by the US government to increase the CDC's ability to detect and contain the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is causing COVID-19,' stated the press statement issued on December 24th.

This action is related to the United Kingdom's recent discovery of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, known as B.1.1.7. Preliminary analysis in the U.K. suggests that this new virus variant may be up to 70% more transmissible than previously circulating variants.