The United States has lifted restrictions imposed on passengers from certain countries hard-hit by COVID-19 to land at one of 15 designated U.S. airports.
The U.S. Government also decided to halt enhanced entry health screening parameters for these passengers upon landing in the United States.
Beginning September 14, the Government will remove requirements for directing all flights carrying passengers arriving from, or recently had a presence in China, Iran, the Schengen region of Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Brazil.
Currently, enhanced entry health screening is conducted in U.S. airports for travelers arriving from these countries.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it now has a better understanding of COVID-19 transmission that indicates symptom-based screening has limited effectiveness because people with COVID-19 may have no symptoms or fever at the time of screening, or only mild symptoms.
“Transmission of the virus may occur from passengers who have no symptoms or who have not yet developed symptoms of infection. Therefore, CDC is shifting its strategy and prioritizing other public health measures to reduce the risk of travel-related disease transmission,” the federal health agency said in a statement.
The U.S. authorities will focus on more effective mitigation efforts, including pre-departure, in-flight, and post-arrival health education for passengers; robust illness response at airports; voluntary collection of contact information from passengers; and potential testing to reduce the risk of travel-related transmission of the virus.
Passengers arriving from high-risk destinations will be required to stay at home for 14 days.
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