CDC ‘Not Quite Ready’ to Roll Back International Travel COVID Testing Rules
byDaniel McCarthy/
Despite news that a number of U.S. states were removing indoor mask mandates, and letting other Omicron-era rules expire, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is still not ready to lift the inbound COVID-19 testing requirement.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said that she and the CDC are optimistic about the continued decline of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
根据世界测量法, after reaching a peak of over 900,000 daily cases twice in early January, the U.S. has recorded under 200,000 daily cases on each of the last three days, a good sign for the continued return to normalcy post-COVID, something that seemed to be trending until the emergence of Omicron in December.
However, Walensky added, the CDC is maintaining the status quo due to the remaining uncertainty with the virus.
“我们从很高的水平中降下来,现在的住院时间比我们在三角洲高峰期间的住院更高。因此,虽然我们将低头说“这是什么样的?”和“我们如何放松一些缓解策略?”首先,我们总是需要为可能的即将来临做好准备。其次,我们还没有准备好这样做。”
美国的旅行协会和团体继续推动取消测试要求,something they say is in the way of the industry’s full recovery, both with inbound and outbound travel. According to those groups, international travel is still down 38% compared to 2019, and that testing requirement is responsible for a lot of that gap.
Last week, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) sent a letter to the White House explaining that the testing requirement was presenting a number of practical challenges to both consumers and to its members.
“这些挑战的范围从不确定性到及时测试的可用性可用性,避免破坏他们返回的返回到由于正面(或假阳性)测试结果而导致的财务和心理负担,以防止被阻止回家ASTA总裁兼首席执行官Zane Kerby写道。
That letter was followed by another letter to the White House signed by Airlines for America, the trade group for the major American carriers, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the International Air Transport Association, the U.S. Travel Association, and more.
那封信称入站测试要求是“决定不在国际上旅行的决定的主要因素”,这是国际旅行恢复继续落后国内复苏的主要原因。
“Surveys of air passengers indicate that pre-departure testing is a leading factor in the decision not to travel internationally. People simply are unwilling to take the chance that they will be unable to return to the U.S.,” the letter read.