Any passenger from China must test negative to enter the United States

Travelers arriving directly from China or who were in the country 10 days prior to their departure for the United States must have either a negative PCR or antigen test for the coronavirus, federal health officials said Wednesday, speaking in a call to reporters on condition of the anonymity . The requirement applies to all passengers regardless of nationality or vaccination status and takes effect January 5 at 12:01 am New York time.

Passengers who tested positive more than 10 days previously can provide documentation and recovery from Covid in lieu of a negative test result, officials said on the call. Airlines must confirm negative Covid test or documentation of recovery before boarding flights to the US. The regulation also applies to travelers from Hong Kong and Macau.

Covid has been spreading unabated in China since the government lifted its policy of strict quarantine and isolation for exposed and infected people. According to estimates by the Chinese government’s top health authority, almost 37 million people could have contracted the virus in a single day in the past week.

The US will also expand its viral genome surveillance program for travelers to two more airports, bringing the total number of samples for sequencing to seven. The program includes passengers boarding hundreds of flights from at least 30 countries.

transparency concerns

US health officials had considered issuing new coronavirus precautions for travelers from China amid concerns about a lack of transparency around case dates, Bloomberg previously reported. U.S. health experts are particularly concerned about the emergence of new variants that may not be picked up in tests in China, officials said on the call. Health officials said they would continue to urge China to release data and genome sequences of the virus.

The high number of people affected within a very short period of time increases the likelihood that a new variant will emerge, health officials said. China is submitting some sequences of the virus to an international database that tracks mutations, officials said. New mutations can make the virus more transmissible or deadly.

Covid testing at US airports has tapered off as countries lift pandemic-era travel restrictions. But US health officials said voluntary testing and sequencing at airports has continued and will be further expanded as part of new efforts to step up precautions amid the outbreak in China.

Italian health authorities earlier on Wednesday said they will start testing all arrivals from China for Covid after nearly half the passengers on two flights to Milan were found to have the virus. Countries like Japan, Malaysia and India are also stepping up tracking and surveillance.

When the Delta variant first surfaced in the fall of 2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered with Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings and other companies to collect and sequence samples from travelers heading from India to the United States USA came.