International Travel Restrictions Lifted for Many U.S. Cities
In the latest modification to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, the U.S. Government announced that they are changing restrictions on international travel.
At the height of the outbreak, the U.S. restricted international travelers coming into the country to a small number of specific airports. This was an attempt to provide better screening and tracking of individuals arriving from outside of the U.S. The goals was to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The prior restrictions limited arrivals to fifteen airports in the U.S. This applied to anyone traveling in from China, Iran, England, Ireland, Brazil and the Schengen region of Europe.
The government is now lifting that restriction on international travelers.
For some, this may sound pre-mature as COVID-19 is certainly still an issue. The change does not mean that the government is not concern about the spread of the virus. It means that they have had time to learn more about screening and monitoring. Now, they are simply implementing a more appropriate strategy.
The focus of and methods of international travel restrictions is changing, not being eliminated.
In a press release the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote, “We now have a better understanding of COVID-19 transmission that indicates symptom-based screening has limited effectiveness because people with COVID-19 may have no symptoms or fever at the time of screening, or only mild symptoms.”
“Transmission of the virus may occur from passengers who have no symptoms or who have not yet developed symptoms of infection. Therefore, CDC is shifting its strategy and prioritizing other public health measures to reduce the risk of travel-related disease transmission.”
According to the agency, the new approach will be one that is more individual focused. It will also include educating the passengers and working with airports and airlines to control procedures to try to minimize lines and crowds.
The focus will also narrow in on travel from countries when spikes of the virus become prevalent.
The goal of the government remains protecting the health of the American people. It believes that this new approach is the more effective way of doing that.
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