ATLANTA (AP) – The United States will require British airline passengers to pass a negative COVID-19 test before flying, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late Thursday.
The US is the latest country to announce new travel restrictions due to a new version of the coronavirus spreading in Britain and elsewhere.
Airline passengers from the United Kingdom must undergo COVID-19 negative tests within three days of their flight and report the results to the airline, the CDC said in a statement. The group said the order will be signed on Friday and executed on Monday.
If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must refuse to board for the passenger, ”the CDC said in its statement.
The group said that due to travel restrictions in place since March, air travel to the US from the UK is already down 90%.
Last weekend, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new strain of the coronavirus appeared to be spreading more easily than earlier ones and was moving rapidly through England. Dozens of countries have banned flights from the UK
But Johnson stressed that “there is no evidence that it is more deadly or worse,” or that vaccines will not be as effective against it.
This week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said three airlines with scheduled flights from London to New York – British Airways, Delta and Virgin Atlantic – had agreed to ask passengers to take a COVID-19 test before boarding the plane.
Britain has been under a lot of pressure since the word of the new version of the virus was published. Around 40 countries have banned travel in Britain, leaving the island nation increasingly remote, after Johnson warned that the new strain of the virus could be 70% more contagious
France suspended its ban on coronavirus on British lorries on Tuesday after a two-day stand that had seized thousands of drivers and raised fears of a shortage of food at Christmas time in the UK
French authorities, who imposed the ban to try to protect the continent from the new strain of the virus circulating in London and the south-east of England, said delivery drivers could enter it. ferry or tunnel while showing proof of a negative test for the virus. .
But the French restrictions were particularly worrying, as Britain relies heavily on its cross-channel trade links with the continent for food at this time of year.