Travelers to U.S. no longer need negative Covid test

Social Affairs

Published: 12 Jun. 2022, 18:51

Travelers to U.S. no longer need negative Covid test

Travelers check in at the Incheon International Airport on Sunday. Travelers from Sunday no longer need to take a Covid-19 test to travel to the United States, as the country decided to lift its test mandate, according to the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [YONHAP]

The United States no longer requires a negative Covid-19 test for air travelers entering the country from June 12, according to its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The decision comes after the travel industry had been lobbying for months to lift the test requirements as a way to revitalize inbound travel to the United States.

The CDC plans to reassess its decision after 90 days. The new mandate will remain in effect “unless modified or rescinded based on specific public health or other considerations,” according to the CDC, such as the emergence of a new variant.

After Korea recently relaxed its testing regulations on overseas arrivals, now requiring a pre-departure PCR test or antigen test and one additional PCR test within three days of arriving in Korea, the country is again debating taking things one step further.

On June 17, Korea’s health authorities will announce their decision on lifting quarantine for those infected with Covid-19. Currently, a seven-day isolation period is required. The government delayed making a decision on the matter once on May 20, citing the discovery of new virus variants and the continuing Omicron cases.

Since June 1, Korea’s daily infections have generally stayed below 10,000 with the exception of four days, with the lowest count at 5,022 on June 5 and the highest at 13,358 on June 7. On Sunday, Korea saw 7,382 new Covid-19 cases and 98 critical cases. Daily deaths have stayed around 20 this month.

A government task force to discuss the possible lifting of the mandatory quarantine had met twice as of June 11, but any concrete decisions were met with hesitation, according to an official at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

"It is time that we think about when to lift the isolation requirement and how to do it," but no big advancements have been made, the official said.

Proponents of the lift argue that flu patients don’t need to quarantine even though yearly deaths from the flu are around 2,000. Opponents of the measure argue that more people get infected with Covid-19 than with the flu, and Covid-19 infections happen all year long while the flu mostly spreads during the colder months.

If the mandatory isolation is lifted, the government will also announce plans to gradually stop providing financial support for Covid-19 treatments. Another official at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said that some financial support may still be provided, and the government can decide when and how to cut the aid regardless of the quarantine lift, though it might be difficult for health authorities to negotiate with financial authorities to set aside a budget.

BY LEE SUN-MIN [lee.sunmin@joongang.co.kr]