More than two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States still requires almost all incoming passengers to get tested, regardless of vaccination status. Now, the travel industry is getting fed up and is pressuring the US government to abandon the requirement.
Last month, Reuters reported that airline executives had met with the Biden administration to demand the removal of the entry tests, stating that removing the testing requirement could bring in an additional 1.4 million travelers to the country. They also claimed that the requirements are making Americans afraid to travel. The article states, “Airline executives say many Americans are not traveling internationally because of concerns they will test positive in a foreign country and then be stranded abroad. International U.S. air travel remains down about 15% from pre-pandemic levels.”
A Travel Weekly article reports that Roger Dow, the CEO of the US Travel Associationsaid, said that during his talks with the Coronavirus Task Force, they agreed that there was no logic behind requiring testing. If COVID cases remain low and the death rate continues to be much less than it was, it’s possible the US could soon drop its COVID testing requirement for travelers entering the United States.
