People travelling to US from international destinations will require negative Covid tests

Rule will go into effect 26 January

US to require negative Covid tests for travellers from international destinations (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Travellers flying into the United States from international destinations will soon be required to show a negative Covid test before boarding the plane, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On Tuesday, the CDC approved the order that will expand the testing requirements after similar rules went into effect in other countries, in the hopes of slowing the increasing spread of the virus.

The new order, which will also apply to US citizens returning to the country, will go into effect on 26 January. Under the new policy, travellers must get a viral test within three days of their flight to the US, with passengers required to show proof of their negative test to the airline or, documentation that they have recovered from Covid-19, before boarding.

“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 agency states.

The policy comes after the CDC reportedly spent weeks urging the Trump administration to expand traveller testing requirements after a new variant of the virus was identified in the UK.

The new rule follows a similar order implemented by the agency in December that requires airline passengers arriving from Britain to test negative for Covid-19 within 72 hours of departure. 

A similar rule has also been implemented in Canada, where travellers into the country, who are over the age of five, are required to show a negative test and quarantine.

In a statement regarding the expansion of the testing requirement, CDC director Robert R Redfield said: “Testing does not eliminate all risk, but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports and at destinations.”

The presence of the more-contagious UK variant has already been confirmed in the US.