The United States has agreed to lift its Covid-19 test requirement for international air travelers entering the country following intense pressure from US politicians and the business community.
As of Sunday, international air passengers will no longer have to show negative Covid evidence to enter the United States, a White House official confirmed.
However, the official said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will evaluate the policy “based on science and in the context of circulating variants”, suggesting that the requirement could be reinstated if the country saw a resurgence. significant cases or a new rapid spread. variant.
The long-awaited measure lifts a policy in place since January 2021 and comes after the US health agency in April stopped using masks for air travelers.
More than 40 mayors representing cities such as Miami, San Francisco, Houston and Atlanta wrote to the Biden administration earlier this week asking them to lift the requirement, citing the negative impact it had on local businesses.
“U.S. cities are still struggling to recover international visitors after more than two years of pandemic-related restrictions,” the bipartisan group of mayors wrote, noting that international visits were still 78 percent below previous levels. to the pandemic.
“Our constituents and our businesses have suffered greatly from this sharp drop in international travel spending, and they cannot fully recover until this vital sector of the U.S. economy recovers,” the mayors said. and noted that 40 more countries had raised pre-departure testing requirements. .
His call followed similar requests from members of Congress, including a bipartisan Nevada Congressional delegation and 30 Republican senators.
Airline executives had also expressed frustration over the pandemic-related travel requirement. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said last week, “I think we’re all frustrated. We’re very frustrated.”
Business advocacy groups welcomed the investment on Friday.
“Today marks another big step forward for the recovery of incoming air travel and the return of international travel to the United States,” said Roger Dow, president of the United States Travel Association.
He noted that more than half of foreign travelers had cited the pre-departure test requirement “as an important deterrent to U.S. travel inbound” in a recent Morning Consult survey for the group.
A recent analysis by the travel industry trade group found that raising the requirement could attract an additional 5.4 million visitors to the U.S. and an additional $ 9 billion in travel expenses for the remainder of 2022.
“Raising that requirement will allow the industry to pave the way for a broader economic and labor recovery in the United States,” Dow said.
Additional report by Kiran Stacey in Washington