International travelers will no longer need to show proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding flights to the United States, federal health officials announced Friday, ending one of the nation’s last pandemic-related travel requirements. The requirement will end at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the requirement will end early Sunday morning. The health agency said it will continue to monitor state of the pandemic and will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the situation changes. “This step is possible because of the progress we’ve made in our fight against COVID-19,” said U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra. FILE PHOTO: Travelers pass a sign near a COVID-19 testing site in Terminal E at Logan Airpo...
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday it had dropped its "Do Not Travel" COVID-19 recommendations for about 90 international destinations. FILE PHOTO: Air travellers wearing protective face masks, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walk at JetBlue Terminal 5 at JFK International airport in New York, U.S., November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton Last week, the CDC said it was revising its travel recommendations and said it would its reserve Level 4 travel health notices "for special circumstances, such as rapidly escalating case trajectory or extremely high case counts." The countries and others regions dropped to "Level 3: High," which still discourages travel by unvaccinated Americans, include the United Kingdom, France, Israel, Tur...
Read MoreThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday removed its COVID-19 notice against cruise travel, around two years after introducing a warning scale showing the level of coronavirus transmission risk on cruise ships. The move offers a shot of hope to major U.S. cruise operators such as Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd that have struggled to bring in revenue since the pandemic started. FILE PHOTO: The Norwegian Getaway and the Norwegian Pearl cruise ships are seen docked at Miami port, after Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd cancelled sailings amid rising fears of Omicron-related coronavirus infections, in Miami, Florida, U.S. January 5, 2022. REUTERS/Marco Bello Cruise operators had also said the health agency wa...
Read MoreCruise industry has welcomed decision by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ease warnings a bit on cruise travel. Trade association Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said that the decision by CDC to lower the Travel Health Notice threat level for cruise ships is a step in the right direction and recognizes the leadership and effectiveness of the cruise sector’s health and safety protocols that are unmatched by virtually any other commercial setting. FILE PHOTO: Cruise ships are seen docked at Miami port as the tourism industry is affected by the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Miami, Florida, U.S. REUTERS/Carlos Barria In its statement CLIA further said, Cruise ships have medical, isolation and quarantine facilities on site, implem...
Read MoreThe World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called upon the U.S. government to urgently speed up approval of the UK’s AstraZeneca vaccine to help restore vital transatlantic travel. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the main health authority in the U.S., this week approved the Pfizer vaccine, however it still does not currently recognise AstraZeneca as an approved COVID-19 vaccine. Even if the Biden Administration allows borders to reopen, the CDC’s non-recognition of AstraZeneca will be a significant barrier to transatlantic travel between the UK and the U.S. FILE PHOTO: Vials with AstraZeneca's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine are seen at the vaccination centre in the Newcastle Eagles Community Arena, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Britain, January 30, 2021. REUTERS/Le...
Read MoreThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eased its warnings for cruises by a notch from the highest level that led to a sailing hiatus, and recommended only fully vaccinated people take trips when sailings resume from U.S. ports in a few days. The CDC also recommended that travelers get tested 1 to 3 days before their trips and 3 to 5 days after their trips. FILE PHOTO: The Carnival Valor cruise ship, which is housing crew members only, is docked in its home port of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Kathleen Flynn/File Photo The health regulator's updates, first posted on Wednesday, comes after two passengers on Royal Caribbean Group's Celebrity Millennium tested positive, and cases of i...
Read MoreThree days after U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention issued new guidance to the cruise ship industry on Friday, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has come out with its response and called for lifting of the conditional sailing orders for the cruise lines. CLIA represents 95% of global ocean-going cruise capacity and the largest network of travel agents and agencies specializing in cruise travel. On Monday, it reiterated its call for the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) to be lifted. In its statement CLIA said, “We share the priority of the Biden Administration to control the virus—and commend the significant advancements made in the US that are a model for others. We also respect the authority of the CDC to implement measures in the int...
Read MoreWider test acceptance welcomed as major step towards return of international travel
While it is still going to take months, if not years before COVID vaccination effect is noticed in larger part of the world, travel industry by large has been advocating pre-departure tests as a safer means to resumption of international travel. Now recent announcements in UK and US have been largely welcomed as a positive step in this direction. Travel without quarantine is deemed to be a major push towards recovery of brutally bruised travel industry and recent announcements pave the way for it. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the announcement by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that it will require all travelers to the US to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test undertaken within three days prior to their departure to th...
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