Air travelers to U.S. must face tougher COVID 19 test

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Air travelers to U.S. must face tougher COVID 19 test

REUTERS Eduardo Munoz File Photo

WASHINGTON TOKYO, December 1, Reuters - Air travelers to the United States will have to face tougher COVID 19 testing rules, as several countries have moved to seal off their borders due to the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant and its ability to dodge existing vaccines.

Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong said they would expand travel curbs, while Asia-Pacific, Japan and Hong Kong said they would expand travel curbs while Australia braced for more cases of the coronavirus variant, after at least two people visited several locations in its biggest city while likely to be infectious.

In an effort to stave off the hasty border curbs, the World Health Organization WHO has urged countries to apply an evidence-informed and risk-based approach to travel measures, saying blanket travel bans won't prevent the spread, and place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods. Investors remained on edge on Wednesday, even as financial markets came off lows, which raised questions about the efficacy of COVID 19 vaccines against Omicron.

Global health officials have offered reassurances and reiterated calls for people to get vaccinated.

Even if the new variant becomes more widespread, the vaccines we have will continue to provide protection, according to the European Medicines Agency Executive Director Emer Cooke.

The laboratory analyses should indicate over the next two weeks whether or not the blood of people with sufficient antibodies is enough to neutralise the new variant, Cooke said, echoing remarks by BioNTech and scientists.

BioNTech's CEO said that the vaccine it makes in partnership with Pfizer PFE.N would provide strong protection against severe disease from Omicron. The new variant has raised the booster programmes of Britain and the United States.

Omicron first reported in southern Africa a week ago, triggered global alarm, roiled markets, led to travel bans, and highlighted the disparity between massive vaccination pushes in rich nations and sparse inoculation in the developing world.

There were 56 countries that were reportedly implementing travel measures to protect against Omicron as of Nov. 28, according to the WHO. I understand the concern of all countries to protect their citizens against a variant that we don't yet understand, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

But I am also concerned that several member states are introducing blunt, blanket measures that are not evidence-based or effective on their own, and which will only worsen inequities, Ghebreyesus said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC said late on Tuesday that the United States is moving to require all air travelers to have a negative COVID 19 test performed within one day of departure. International travellers can present a negative result within three days from their point of departure, if they are vaccinated. The new one-day testing requirement would apply to U.S. citizens as well as foreign nationals.

The administration is considering whether to require air travellers to take another test within three to five days of arrival, officials said.

The CDC does not confirm that it recommends all travellers get a COVID 19 viral test 3 -- 5 days after arrival and post-travel quarantine for any unvaccinated travelers. The CDC lists 80 foreign destinations as Level Four, its highest level of COVID-19 transmission, and discourages Americans from traveling to those destinations, even though it doesn't confirm that.

Japan, which had shut its borders to foreigners in Asia, said it would expand its ban to foreigners with resident status from 10 African countries including South Africa. From Friday, Hong Kong will expand its entry ban for non-residents to three more countries, Japan, Portugal and Sweden.

South Korean Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol called for tighter virus prevention measures to head off Omicron after suspected cases entered from Nigeria.

The country, which reported a daily record of over 5,000 COVID 19 cases, has not detected any confirmed cases of the Omicron variant so far. Global airlines are preparing for new volatility, as Omicron could force them to adjust schedules and destinations at short notice. Deidre Fulton, a partner at consultancy MIDAS Aviation, said at an industry webinar that it feels like we are back to where we were a year ago.