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u.s. lifTs covid-19 TesTing requiremenT for Travelers
US lifts COVID-19 test requirement for international travel
Zeke Miller and David Koenig –The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration lifted its requirement that international travelers test negative for COVID-19 within a day before boarding a flight to the United States, ending one of the last remaining government mandates designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last Friday that the requirement was to end early Sunday morning. The health agency said it will continue to monitor state of the pandemic and will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the situation changes.
“This step is possible because of the progress we’ve made in our fight against COVID-19,” said U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Airline and tourism groups have been pressing the administration for months to eliminate the testing requirement, saying it discourages people from booking international trips because they could be stranded overseas if they contract the virus on their trip.
Roger Dow, president of the U.S. Travel Association, called lifting the testing rule “another huge step forward for the recovery of inbound air travel and the return of international travel to the United States.”
Airlines argued that the rule was put into effect when few Americans were vaccinated — now 71% of those 5 and older are fully vaccinated, according to CDC figures. They also complained that people entering the U.S. at land borders are not required to test negative for COVID-19, although they must show proof of vaccination.
While domestic U.S. travel has returned nearly to pre-pandemic levels, international travel — which is very lucrative for the airlines — has continued to lag. In May, U.S. international air travel remained 24% below 2019 levels, with declines among both U.S. and foreign citizens, according to trade group Airlines for America.
Many other countries have lifted their testing requirements for fully vaccinated and boosted travelers in a bid to increase tourism.
Some infectious-disease experts said they were comfortable with the CDC’s decision, and that lifting the restriction is unlikely to cause further spread of the virus in the U.S.
Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University said the rule was designed to prevent importing the virus, “but we’ve got plenty of COVID here. It’s like telling someone not to pour a bucket of water in their swimming pool.”
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong at the University of California, San Francisco, said travel restrictions demonstrate that officials are trying to keep variants out, “but they haven’t really shown to be beneficial, ever.” However, he said, requiring foreign visitors to be vaccinated makes sense to avoid straining the U.S. health-care system with people who could develop severe disease. The requirement for a negative COVID-19 test before flying to the U.S. dates to January 2021 and is the most visible remaining U.S. travel restriction of the pandemic era. In April, a federal judge in Florida struck down a requirement that passengers wear masks on planes and public transportation, saying that the CDC had exceeded its authority. The Biden administration is appealing that ruling, saying it aims to protect the CDC’s ability to respond to future health emergencies.
The Biden administration put the testing requirement in place as it moved away from rules that banned nonessential travel from dozens of countries — most of Europe, China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Iran — and focused instead on classifying individuals by the risk they pose to others.
In fact, It was coupled with a requirement that foreign, nonimmigrant adults traveling to the United States need to be fully vaccinated, with only limited exceptions. The initial mandate allowed those who were fully Many other countries have lifted their testing requirements for fully vaccinated and boosted travelers in a bid to increase tourism. vaccinated to show proof of a negative test within three days of travel, while unvaccinated people had to present a test taken within one day of travel. In November, as the highly transmissible omicron variant swept the world, the Biden administration toughened the requirement and required all travelers — regardless of vaccination status — to test negative within a day of travel to the U.S. In February, travel groups argued that the testing requirement was obsolete because of the high number of omicron cases already in every state, higher vaccinations rates and new treatments for the virus. U.S. airlines estimate that dropping the test requirement will mean 4.3 million more passengers in one year. It is unclear, however, whether airlines can boost flights quickly enough to handle that kind of increase. Airlines facing a shortage of pilots have already scaled back their original schedules for the peak summer vacation season.
Licensed vocational nurse Caren Williams, right, collects a nasal swab sample from a traveler at a COVID-19 testing site at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, on Nov. 23, 2020. > AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Dr. William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University
The Latin American tourism industry saw an unprecedented comeback after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Being an increasingly important part of the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) economies, tourism began to rebuild last year, with the industry supporting 8.5 million jobs and contributing over $180 billion to gross domestic products (GDPs) throughout the region. In a recent report, economic forecasting firm Oxford Economics (OE) estimates visitor spending in LAC could reach $500 billion by 2025, which would be 16% above its pre-pandemic level.
The online lodging platform Airbnb led this recovery by increasing the number of hosts in its platform and diversifying destinations beyond the same popular tourism circuit. Two key factors for the economic activity in the sector were having over 4.3 million more guest stays in 2021 than in 2019, and $8.9 billion in increased spending. OE estimated 416,000 jobs were created in the region,
Airbnb guests created 416K jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean
More guests are spending more money in their trips
The Weekly Journal generating $4.5 billion in wages, salaries, and other labor income across a range of sectors. For each $10 spent on accommodations, Airbnb guests spent an additional $45 at other businesses, such restaurants, transportation, and other activities, during their trip. “We wanted to explore the economic significance of Airbnb’s footprint in Latin America and the Caribbean. As cities, states and countries plan for the months and years ahead, this data shows that Airbnb can be an important part of their economic revitalization,” said Catherine Powell, Airbnb’s Global Head of Hosting. Powell argued that, while inflation is at its highest for the last 15 years, according to the International Monetary Fund, hosting is a way to cover the rising costs of living, with hosts being able to keep up to 97% of what they charge for their listing. “People are traveling again, but
In fact, they’re traveling in a different way: staying longer and exploring new For each $10 spent on accommodations, Airbnb guests spent an additional $45 at other businesses during their trip. places. More than 800 cities and towns throughout Latin American and the Caribbean received their first booking on Airbnb since the beginning of the pandemic,” Powell said. Back in June 2020, Airbnb launched an initiative to expand their work with destination marketing organizations, governments, and nonprofits to support local economic activity. To date, they have participated in over 140 partnerships and collaborations in more than two dozen countries, including
People are traveling again, but they’re traveling in a different way: staying longer and exploring new places.
recent campaigns with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Discover Puerto Rico, Mexico’s Jalisco State, and Brazil’s Sao Paulo State.
In a previous report, the company announced that long family weekend trips - lasting three to four days - increased by 70 percent in the second quarter of 2021. Moreover, last August, Airbnb reached the highest number of nights booked in the platform’s history in the United States since the pandemic began in March 2020.
In terms of sustainability, Airbnb has partnered with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to promote sustainable, safe, and responsible tourism in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Brazil, with the alliance highlighting culturally authentic and biodiverse destinations as an alternative to mass and traditional tourism.
“The lines between travel, living and working are blurring and we are upgrading our service to make it easier for people to integrate travel into their lives and for more people to become hosts,” said Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky.
