Travelers on international flights into the US face a slew of new restrictions, some of which came into effect this week in accordance with executive orders from President Joe Biden.
The measures include CDC requirements for international travelers to present a negative COVID-19 test before arrival in the US, as of Jan. 26— a rule Canada implemented last December and has been reportedly leaving some travelers with limited options to board their flights. Upon landing in Canada, there is a mandatory 14-day quarantine, as opposed to the US quarantine period which was shortened to 10 days by the CDC in December.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 25: Covid-19 information is displayed at an international terminal at … [+]
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President Biden also overturned the lifting of some restrictions by the previous administration on Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe allowing open border traveling, reported Reuters, with the addition of South Africa to the list due to the new variation of the virus that has emerged there.
On the heels of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the US — a reported 25.3 million, according to The New York Times’ ongoing tracker as of Jan. 26, 2021 — the regulations are meant to help curb the virus and mitigate the effects of the new strains being discovered in various locations around the world. According to John Hopkins University of Medicine’s research, there have been 425,062 deaths in the US to date due to COVID-19.
Both the US and Canada are warning against unnecessary or non-essential travel at this time, indicating that those who choose to do so could be stranded without a way to return home. “The Department of State is committed to helping U.S. citizens overseas who find themselves in dire situations, but that assistance is likely to be limited,” said the Bureau of Consular Affairs Acting Assistant Secretary Ian Brownlee told The New York Times. “Our goal is to help people avoid those dire straits in the first place.”
Both the US and Canadian government have been looking to standardize restrictions between the two countries, closing a travel “loophole”, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned that further restrictions may be coming soon. Ontario premier Doug Ford has called for mandatory testing upon arrival for international travelers, with a temporary ban similar to the US regulations for areas affected by the new variants. A pilot program running on a voluntary basis out of Pearson International Airport caught 146 positive COVID-19 cases out of 6,580 tests, and that international travel related incidents accounted for 1.8 per cent of all cases in Ontario. Over 1,600 international flights into Canada have been identified as having potential exposure since the beginning of the pandemic (the Government of Canada has a tracker detailing the flight dates and rows exposed, as well as similar information for cruise ships and trains).
The current COVID-19 predeparture testing restrictions in Canada have led to 50,000 cancelled flight reservations, a spokesperson for Transport Minister Omar Alghabra told The CBC. Industry groups, such as the National Airlines Council of Canada, protested the decision when it was announced in late December, indicating that the government had not consulted with airlines or given them adequate warning. “While governments at all levels continue to recognize the need for aviation to continue to operate, we cannot do so without passengers,” said National Airlines Council of Canada president and CEO Mike McNaney in a statement in January. “As additional measures continue to be considered, we need the federal government to engage with industry and labour on the development of such measures.”
American domestic travelers may soon have to contend with similar regulations. Dr. Marty Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC told reporters that preflight testing was being considered in terms of domestic travel, according to Reuters.
