U.S. finalizing new COVID-19 travel rules to counter Omicron variant spread: officials
Global News
Among the policies being considered is a requirement that all air travellers to the U.S. be tested for COVID-19 within a day of boarding their flight.
The Biden administration is expected to take steps in the coming days to toughen testing requirements for international travellers to the U.S., including both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, amid the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The precise testing protocols were still being finalized ahead of a speech by President Joe Biden planned for Thursday on the nation’s plans to control the COVID-19 pandemic during the winter season, according to a senior administration official who said some details could still change.
Among the policies being considered is a requirement that all air travelers to the U.S. be tested for COVID-19 within a day of boarding their flight. Currently those who are fully vaccinated may present a test taken within three days of boarding.
“CDC is evaluating how to make international travel as safe as possible, including pre-departure testing closer to the time of flight and considerations around additional post-arrival testing and self-quarantines,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s plans before the announcement, said options under consideration also include post-arrival testing requirements or even self-quarantines.
Under the new measures expected to be announced Thursday, the U.S. would require anyone entering the country to be tested one day before boarding flights, regardless of their vaccination status or country of departure, the Washington Post reported, citing three anonymous federal health officials.
“Administration officials are also considering a requirement that all travelers get retested within three to five days of arrival,” the report said.
The expected move comes just weeks after the U.S. largely reopened its borders to fully vaccinated foreign travelers on Nov. 8.
The call was held amid increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine by U.S. President Donald Trump and concerns the U.S. is negotiating a peace deal directly with Russia.
'We want to be clear given this designation that we don’t negotiate our sovereignty,' Claudia Sheinbaum said after the U.S. classified Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.
The asteroid, described as a "city killer," is keeping space watchers on their toes.
Police were investigating the motive for the attack in Hradec Kralove, a city 110 km east of Prague.
Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead.
Marine experts have given up hope of rescuing more than 150 false killer whales are stranded on a remote beach on Australia’s island state of Tasmania, officials said on Wednesday.
Hochhalter was found in her home in suburban Denver on Sunday. Her family suspects she died of natural causes stemming from her injuries in the 1999 shooting,
Residents of an English village were evacuated as a large sinkhole swallowed parts of the town’s main street up to the edge of homes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he “would like Trump’s team to be more truthful" after Trump suggested Ukraine “should have never started” the war.
Ukraine was not involved in either high-level meeting on its future and a possible end to the war, and it remains unclear when all sides will be at the same table in the future.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet alleges that Bolsonaro and 33 others participated in a plan to remain in power despite losing to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Moscow's Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov says "Russia has no interest" in joining the Group of Seven, which he calls an "outdated structure."
Authorities in Sicily say tourist vehicles are clogging up streets leading to the volcano, potentially blocking emergency services and rescue efforts.