The United States will require passengers arriving by plane from Britain to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late Thursday.
The move is in addition to restrictions imposed by other countries due to a new variant of the coronavirus, which is spreading in Britain and elsewhere.
Flight passengers arriving from Great Britain will have to submit a negative COVID-19 test conducted within three days of their trip and provide the results to their airline, the CDC said in a statement. The order will be signed on Friday and will take effect on Monday.
Airlines must deny boarding to any passenger who has not been tested, the CDC said.
The agency said that due to travel restrictions imposed since March, flights to the United States from Britain have already fallen by 90%.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last weekend that the new variant of the virus appeared to spread more easily than previous ones, and was spreading rapidly across England. Dozens of countries have banned flights from Britain.
However, Johnson insisted that “there is no evidence to suggest that it is more lethal or causes more serious disease,” nor that vaccines are less effective against it.
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