U.S. to require COVID-19 tests for all international visitors
The U.S. government will require all international airline passengers to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding flights to the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. The CDC’s order followed weeks of discussions among federal agencies and the White House coronavirus task force. The order will go into effect January 26. CDC Director Robert R. Redfield said in a statement that testing doesn’t eliminate all risk, but it can make travel safer when combined with other precautions such as wearing masks.
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U.S. Travel reacts to testing mandate
U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the announcement that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue an order requiring a negative COVID-19 test before boarding an international flight to the U.S.:
“A testing requirement provides yet another layer of safety for international travel, and should be accompanied by other risk-based policies — including lifting international inbound travel restrictions and dropping any post-arrival quarantine requirements… With an international testing requirement in place, international visitors and returning residents would be tested at much higher rates than the general public and pose a much lower risk of transmitting the disease. So it would make sense to lift international travel restrictions and quarantine requirements at the same time.”
Cancun hotels attempt to purchase vaccines for employees
As part of an effort to protect hotel employees and travelers, the Cancun Hotel Association has placed two bids to purchase vaccines for its tourist service providers. According to the Riviera Maya News, a Cancun Hotel Association spokesperson said it has reached out to both AstraZeneca in Mexico and Pfizer in the United States about buying the coronavirus vaccine and having it be delivered before September. The association said the order would protect 250,000 tourist service providers by providing them with the necessary two doses of the vaccine.
Expect life to return to normal in three stages
The best way to set realistic expectations around what life will look like in 2021 is to think of it in three stages, writes Vox magazine. Stage 1 is what you can safely do once you and your close friends or family are vaccinated. Stage 2 is what you can safely do once your city or state has reached herd immunity, where enough people are protected against infection that the virus can’t easily spark new outbreaks. Stage 3 is what you can do once herd immunity is reached internationally.
