US to requires UK passengers to get negative test

Atlanta, Dec 25: The United States will require airline passengers from Britain to get a negative COVID-19 test before their flight.

The US is the latest country to announce new travel restrictions because of a new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading in Britain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says airline passengers from the United Kingdom will have to get negative COVID-19 tests within three days of their trip and provide the results to the airline.

The agency says the order will be signed Friday and go into effect on Monday.

The CDC says because of travel restrictions in place since March, air travel to the US from the UK has been cut by 90 per cent.

Last weekend, Britain's prime minister said a new variant of the coronavirus seemed to spread more easily than earlier ones and was moving rapidly through England. Dozens of countries have since barred flights from the UK.