美国宣布放弃对国际旅客的新冠测试要求

2022年6月10日星期五

关键点

旅客曾被要求必须在飞往美国前**出示新冠阴性测试证明。

业界一再敦促政府放弃该测试要求。

最新政策的更改将于美国东部时间周日（6月12日）凌晨12:01开始生效。

拜登政府将于本周日（6月12日）放弃对来自国外的入境航空旅客的新冠测试要求，结束这个在疫情中持续时间最长的旅行限制之一。

这条规则由特朗普政府在2021年初实施，随之而来的拜登政府选择持续将该政策收紧，之前的最新要求包括，美国公民在内的入境旅客在登机前**需出示新冠病毒检测阴性的证明，而在陆路过境点进入美国的旅客则可以豁免证明。

这条政策的取消将于美国东部时间周日凌晨12:01开始生效。航空公司和旅游业内的其他公司曾经一再敦促政府放弃这一要求，认为这条规定严重损害了人们对国际旅行的需求。而旅游业毫无疑问一直是受疫情影响最严重的行业之一。

美国航空公司首席执行官罗伯特·伊索姆上周在一次行业会议上表示，他在华盛顿特区与政界人士会面时，曾经讨论过这个要求，他认为这条规定是没有意义且荒谬的。我们真的很沮丧，他说。

而包括英国在内的其他国家此前已经放弃了新冠测试的入境要求。

拜登政府的这一行动值得称赞，它将欢迎来自世界各地的游客回到美国，加速美国旅游业的复苏。美国旅游协会主席罗杰·道在一份声明中说， 国际入境旅行对于美国全国正在努力从旅游行业中挽回损失的业界企业和工作人员来说，可以用至关重要来形容。

关于这点，旅游技术协会负责政府关系的副总裁麦克里塔客在声明中表示，旅行和旅游业，他认为是经济从新冠中复苏的关键。美国航空公司的最大的游说团体之一美国之线的首席执行官尼克卡利奥声称，该行业期待继续与通力政府合作，优先考虑旅行公众的安全和福祉，并确保航空旅行制定政策所得到的指导，是极其科学与客观的，

据拜登政府高级官员称，疾病控制和预防中心将在90 天后，来重新评估这一决定。

这位官员说，如果需要恢复出发前的检测要求，包括由新的令很多人担忧的新冠变体导致情况有所变化，疾控中心将毫不犹豫地采取行动。

在整个新冠期间，旅游业与拜登和特朗普两任政府就旨在遏制新冠传播的规则曾经发生过冲突，其中包括针对大多数外国游客进入美国的严格禁令，该禁令最终于11月取消。白宫发言人说，大多数前往美国的非公民游客在飞往美国之前，仍需出示新冠疫苗接种证明。

与此同时，在 4 月，特朗普任命的一名联邦法官推翻了另一项旨在遏制新冠传播的富有争议的规则：拜登政府要求旅客在飞机和其他形式的公共交通工具上佩戴口罩的联邦规定。司法部已经对这个裁决提出了上诉。

以下为原文：

The Biden administration will drop the Covid-19 testing requirement for inbound air travelers from abroad on Sunday, ending one of the longest-running travel restrictions of the pandemic.

The rule, put in place by the Trump administration in early 2021 and later tightened by the Biden administration, most recently required inbound travelers, including U.S. citizens, to show proof of a negative Covid test a day before boarding U.S.-bound flights. Travelers entering the U.S. at land border crossings were exempt.

The change takes effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Airlines and others in the travel industry had repeatedly pushed the administration to drop the requirement, arguing it was hurting demand for international trips. The travel industry has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told an industry conference last week that he met with politicians in Washington, D.C., to discuss the testing requirement, a rule he called "nonsensical."

"We're really frustrated," he said.

Other countries, including the U.K., had previously abandoned Covid testing entry rules.

"The Biden administration is to be commended for this action, which will welcome back visitors from around the world and accelerate the recovery of the U.S. travel industry," Roger Dow, president of the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement. "International inbound travel is vitally important to businesses and workers across the country who have struggled to regain losses from this valuable sector."

For its part, the Travel Technology Association's vice president of government relations, Mike Liptak, said in a statement that travel and tourism are key to the economic recovery from the pandemic. Nick Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, the lobbying group for the largest U.S. carriers, said the industry looks "forward to continuing to work with the Administration to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of the traveling public and to ensure that air travel policies are guided by science."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will reassess the decision in 90 days, according to a senior Biden administration official.

"If there is a need to reinstate a pre-departure testing requirement including due to a new, concerning variant CDC will not hesitate to act," the official said.

The travel industry clashed with both the Biden and Trump administrations throughout the pandemic over rules aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, including a strict ban on most foreign visitors into the U.S., which was eventually lifted in November. Most noncitizen visitors to the U.S. will still have to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination before flying to the U.S., a White House spokesman said.

Separately, in April, a Trump-appointed federal judge struck down another contentious rule that aimed to curb the spread of Covid-19: the Biden administration's federal mandate that travelers wear masks on planes and other forms of public transportation. The Department of Justice has appealed the ruling.

CNBC's Thomas Franck contributed to this article.