New testing rules for inbound US travellers start from today: What you need to know

Washington, Dec 06: The US has made it mandatory for all incoming passengers, including those from India, to carry a negative COVID-19 test report or a proof of recovery from the contagion amidst rising number of cases of the new Omicron variant.

The new protocol comes into effect from today i.e December 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has said.

• COVID-19 testing requirements for air passengers 2 years or older boarding a flight to the United States
• Passengers are required show a negative COVID-19 viral test result taken no more than 1 day before travel.
• Documentation of a negative SARS-CoV-2 viral test result from specimen collected no more than 1 calendar day preceding the passenger's flight to the United States or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, before they board their flight.
• Air passengers will also be required to confirm in the form of an attestation that the information they present is true.
• The 1-day period is 1 day before the flight's departure. The order uses a 1-day time frame instead of 24 hours to provide more flexibility to the air passenger and aircraft operator.
• By using a 1-day window, test acceptability does not depend on the time of the flight or the time of day that the test sample was taken, the circular explained.
• For example, flight AI191/(BOM-EWR) is at 01:30 AM IST on a Tuesday, passengers could board with a negative test that was taken any time on the 1 calendar day prior Tuesday i.e., on Monday.