Travel News

US Not Dropping Pre-Departure Covid Test Requirement

a person holding a qr code on a phone
Written by Charlie

With a recent survey showing that a majority of travelers wanting the pre-departure Covid test removed, the US says that is not happening.

As April 18 comes up fast (the date of the current mask mandate on aircraft expiration), many had been hoping that the US would also drop the requirement to test before departure for the US. That looks like it will not be happening.

US Not Dropping Pre-Departure Covid Test Requirement

This week, the US coordinator of the Covid response, Jeff Zients, responded to a reporter who asked about the pre-departure tests currently in place for heading to the US.

This was his response: MR. ZIENTS:  Okay, on your second question: No, there are no plans to change the international travel requirements at this point.

As it currently stands (and as it was implemented last December), all travelers (regardless of vaccination status) that are traveling to the US need to have a Covid test conducted 1 day before their flight to the US departs (read more about it here). This applies to every traveler 2 years of age and older.

With a recent TripIt survey, conducted from April 1 – 4, 60% of travelers indicated that they want the testing requirement to be removed. 27% of those surveyed say they want the policy to remain while 13% say they do not have a preference either way.

Digging deeper, TripIt says that 44% of those asked say they’d be more likely to travel if the requirement was removed. Only 10% said they would be less likely would 46% saying it won’t affect their travel plans either way. Since a negative test means having to stay out of the US for at least an additional 5 days (and paying for last minute lodging as well as potentially missing work), that 44% of respondents makes total sense.

We have seen over and over again that pre-departure testing does not keep Covid out of the US. With countries around the world dropping testing requirements for vaccinated travelers, the US seems to be digging in on this testing requirement. Like the mask mandate on aircraft, this testing requirement across the board definitely seems (to me as well as many others) to be Covid theatre.

The US, unlike many other countries, never actually checks the testing, choosing rather to leave it to airline personnel to confirm that a test has been done. The problem with this is that there is no way to know if the test is actually legit and it puts added pressure on airlines. Plus, in my experience, the lines of people waiting to have their documents checked is actually the most packed in area of any airport I have been in – not exactly something that works if you want people to be separated a distance of 2 meters!

The only reason I can think that Mr. Zients said this is because the US is going to lift the mask mandate and they want to leave the testing requirement in place to ease out of the current protocols.

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

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