U.S. to require negative Covid test for travelers from China as virus spreads
Alarmed by China’s surge in Covid-19 cases, the Biden administration is considering new rules for travelers from the country, two U.S. officials said.
WASHINGTON — Starting Jan. 5, the U.S. will require a pre-departure negative Covid test for anyone flying in from China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. The new policy comes amid a surge in Covid cases in China and as fears that a new, concerning variant could emerge.
NBC News reported earlier that the travel requirements were under consideration. Federal health officials said China’s lack of adequate and transparent Covid data — specifically, viral genomic sequence data — led to the decision, making it harder for U.S. public health officials to identify new variants.
The officials said they are waiting until Jan. 5 to give airlines enough time to implement the change and will continue monitoring going forward to decide when to lift the requirement.
The CDC is also increasing the tracking of travelers coming to the U.S. who may have Covid by expanding the Traveler Genomic Surveillance program to include the airports in Seattle and Los Angeles. That brings the number of airports in the program to seven, including John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, San Francisco International Airport, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C.
Federal officials expressed concern that China’s past "zero-Covid" policies could lead to a large number of hospitalizations and deaths there now that it has dropped most measures and its population may lack immunity to the currently circulating omicron subvariants.
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