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Air passengers heading to the United States from the United Kingdom must test negative for COVID-19 before departure, the Centers for Disease Control said on Thursday. This follows the discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus which could be up to 70% more transmissible and which is spreading in Britain and elsewhere.
UK air passengers will need to take negative COVID-19 tests within three days of their trip and provide the results to the airline, the CDC said in a statement. If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger. The agency said the order would be signed today, December 25, and go into effect on Monday.
Over the weekend, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that while the new variant of the virus seemed to spread more easily, he stressed that “there is no evidence to suggest that it is more deadly or causes an more serious disease “or that the vaccines will be less effective against it.
This week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo struck an unusual deal with three airlines with flights from London to New York – Delta, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic – who agreed to test passengers traveling from the UK At New York. United Airlines on Thursday agreed to do the same for its flights to Newark, NJ.
More than 40 countries have restricted travel from the UK and in some cases are also traveling from other countries that have documented cases with the variant since its discovery.
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