When is the US dropping pre-departure tests for vaccinated travellers?

Pressure is mounting on the US to lift all COVID travel restrictions, with hundreds of travel organisations issuing a fresh plea to the government yesterday (5 May).

Currently, nearly all passengers have to take a test within one day of their journey. Most unvaccinated foreigners are barred. But with a busy summer season round the corner, how long will these strict measures hold?

In the latest pushback from the travel sector, more than 260 firms signed a letter to the Whitehouse on Thursday, demanding an “urgent repeal” of the pre-departure testing rule.

“It is time for the Biden administration to lead the country toward a new normal for travel and on a faster road to a full economic recovery,” according to the letter from the US Travel Association (USTA).

It follows a major development on 18 April, when a federal judge blocked President Biden’s plan to extend mandatory mask wearing on planes, trains and other public transport. That means masks are now optional as far as the US transit authority is concerned.

A White House press secretary called the decision “disappointing”, in a sign that the Biden administration is not ready to deviate from the USA’s public health agency’s advice just yet - which still recommends face coverings on public transport.

“We are always reviewing our guidance and new science that becomes available,” a spokesperson for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) told Euronews Travel in response to a question on when the entry rules are likely to ease.

In the meantime, here are the current US entry rules - and the indications that they could change soon.

At present, all travellers - regardless of vaccination status or citizenship - are required to get a COVID-19 test no more than one day