U.S. to lift coronavirus testing requirement for flyers returning to the country

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: Washington Post

International travelers flying to the United States will no longer need to show proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding their flights to the U.S., a senior Biden administration official said Friday, ending one of the nation’s last pandemic-related travel requirements.

The requirement will end at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

The administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement, said science and data show the requirement is no longer necessary. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will reassess the decision in 90 days and would reinstate the requirement if necessary, officials said.

The Biden administration in April dropped its requirement that people wear masks on airplanes, buses and in other public transportation settings after a federal judge ruled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its authority by putting the mandate in place. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of Florida is being appealed.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/06/10/covid-testing-requirement-ends/

[Ace Rothstein]

1. Long overdue.

This rule did nothing to stop different strains of COVID from coming into the country.

[VarryOn]

7. Exactly. My wife and I returned from Turks...

Recently. Had to go through the hassle of getting the test 24 hours before leaving. Then, no one ever looked at the test results. Airline, border control, no one. They only wanted to see the form where I attested that I had received a negative test!

Three days after we returned, I tested positive for Covid.

I have to go to Canada in a couple weeks. This change will save me time and hassle.

[StarryNite]

2. A couple of weeks ago my neighbors and their friends

were going to be coming home from Belize. They had to test. Turned out all 4 of them tested positive for COVID and had to stay another 5 days. I'm glad they were tested and didn't bring it back with them.

[Lonestarblue]

3. Most people have the rapid antigen test, which has more false positives than the PCR test.

The antigen test is taken the day before flying, so there is nothing that prevents travelers from getting Covid during that 24-hour period and bringing it back with them. Most countries have dropped the testing requirement with no uptick in cases.

[StarryNite]

9. False positives are extremely rare.

So for all of them to have false positives, I'm not buying it.

Navigating False Negatives on COVID Rapid Tests
If you think you have COVID and test negative, you need to test again.

But, there is the issue of test accuracy. False positives with rapid tests are extremely rare, with one research letter in JAMA pegging the false positivity rate at 0.05% and many of these false positives were traced back to a single batch of tests, which suggests it was a specific quality control issue rather than a question of decreased test accuracy.

But while false positives are rare, false negatives are not. It seems, from anecdotal experience, that we are seeing more false negatives during this wave, which has led to speculation that the tests may not perform as well against the Omicron variant and now BA.2. (The new variant has not been around long enough to generate enough data, but the assumption is that it would behave the same way as Omicron, given their similarity.)

[link:https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19/navigating-false-negatives-covid-rapid-tests|

[orleans]

4. what pandemic?

[BlueIdaho]

5. My wife and I just returned from the UK

I’m glad we were on a plane full of recently tested passengers.

[Footay]

6. About time

While I totally supported this when it first started, it had become ridiculous. On my trip to Mexico last month, the person doing the testing at the resort had a tip box. Want a negative test, just leave a tip.

[gldstwmn]

8. Sure. Why not? What could possibly go wrong?

A nasal swab is too much? Jesus.

[EX500rider]

10. Thank goodness

Been waiting to take a vacation to S America but can't afford to be stuck down there and miss work.
Also didn't want to fly for hours in a mask so glad that it gone too.

[rockfordfile]

11. I don't agree with this. Covid is still going strong around the world.

[Justice]

12. I'd still wear a mask on the plane but glad test is gone

We just came back from UK.

Getting test done with virtual assistant and then getting results and uploading them took a few hours.

Had to upload test to specific app designated by airline in order to checkin.

Let me check-in but would not allow my spouse (who had negative test also) to complete check-in, said had to do it at airport. Once at airport, gate agent was really rude to us, said it she had to take several steps to check spouse in. We said, okay get frustrated but not our fault - look at app. Gate agent refused to look at app, wanted to see spouse's negative test.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. I still wear my mask most places

My son still wear his mask on planes