CDC to Require Negative COVID Test for All Air Passengers Entering the U.S.

*Update, as of January 2022, a completed COVID-19 viral test (regardless of vaccination status or citizenship) is required no more than one day before air travel into the U.S. Read more here.

Starting Jan. 26, per a new rule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all air passengers entering the U.S. are required to get a viral test within three days before their flight to the U.S. and provide documentation to the airline they’re flying with of either a negative result for COVID-19 or proof that they’ve recovered from COVID-19.

The documentation can be a paper or electronic copy and the airline must confirm the negative result of every passenger before they board a flight to the U.S. Airlines must deny boarding to passengers who do not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery, or to passengers who choose not to take a test.

This new rule, issued on Jan. 12, comes after the CDC released new recommendations that travelers flying internationally get tested for COVID-19 twice: one to three days before their flight departs and three to five days after their flight home. This is because, according to the CDC, “testing before and after travel is a critical layer to slow the introduction and spread of COVID-19. This strategy is consistent with the current phase of the pandemic and more efficiently protects the health of Americans.”

“Testing does not eliminate all risk,” says CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, MD, “but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports and at destinations.”