CDC Lifts Testing Requirement For Air Travelers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that the order requiring travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight to the U.S. is rescinded.

The CDC concluded the travel restriction was no longer necessary “based on the science and data, “CNN reported.

The CDC says it “continues to evaluate the latest science and state of the pandemic and will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the situation changes.”

“The Covid-19 pandemic has now shifted to a new phase, due to the widespread uptake of highly effective Covid-19 vaccines, the availability of effective therapeutics, and the accrual of high rates of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity at the population level in the United States. Each of these measures has contributed to lower risk of severe disease and death across the United States,” the CDC said.

Travel industry officials and some scientific experts were critical of the requirement and argued it had been out of date for months, CNN reported.

For more information, read more from the CDC here and from CNN here.

In other news:

Dallas COVID-19 hospitalizations are gradually increasing, but less severe variants and previous immunizations are preventing severe disease and reaction, health experts say. Read more from the Dallas Morning News here.