[ti:US to Require Arriving Passengers to Show Proof of COVID Test]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]American health officials say that anyone flying to the United States
[00:06.00]will soon need to show proof of a negative test for COVID-19.
[00:12.64]The new restrictions take effect on January 26.
[00:18.56]The order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
[00:24.64]requires air passengers to get a COVID-19 test
[00:29.52]within three days of their flight to the U.S.
[00:34.52]Airlines are ordered to stop passengers from boarding
[00:38.60]if they do not have proof of a negative test.
[00:42.52]Travelers can also provide documentation
[00:46.32]that they had the infection in the past and recovered.
[00:51.00]All air travelers aged two and older must follow the CDC order.
[00:58.68]However, passengers who only have a stopover in the U.S.
[01:03.76]before flying to another country
[01:06.52]do not have to provide proof of a negative COVID test.
[01:12.00]The order affects U.S. citizens as well as foreign travelers.
[01:17.80]The health agency said it delayed the start date until January 26
[01:24.48]to give airlines and travelers time to meet the requirements.
[01:30.72]The CDC says it will consider exceptions of testing requirements
[01:36.64]for airlines flying from countries with little or no testing abilities,
[01:41.92]including some places in the Caribbean.
[01:46.32]The expanded travel order is similar to one announced
[01:50.96]late last month for passengers coming from Britain.
[01:54.84]It is designed to try to prevent travelers from bringing in
[01:59.64]new forms of the virus that scientists say can spread more easily.
[02:07.28]"Testing does not eliminate all risk,"
[02:10.68]CDC Director Robert R. Redfield said in a statement.
[02:15.92]Redfield added, when combined with other preventative measures,
[02:21.36]testing "can make travel safer, healthier, and more responsible
[02:27.04]by reducing spread on planes, in airports, and at destinations."
[02:33.68]It is likely that the recently identified version of the virus from Britain
[02:39.08]is "in every state or most states," said Dr. Ashisha Jha.
[02:45.40]He is dean of Brown University's school of public health in Rhode Island.
[02:51.92]So far, 10 U.S. states have reported 72 cases of the new form.
[03:00.44]COVID-19 is already widespread in the U.S.,
[03:04.88]with more than 22.8 million cases reported.
[03:09.76]Johns Hopkins University reports that more than 380,000 people have died.
[03:17.28]And the country recorded 4,327 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday,
[03:26.60]a one-day record high.
[03:29.08]But the new order may stop or reduce spread of other versions of the virus,
[03:35.56]like the one recently identified in South Africa.
[03:40.16]Airlines have been pushing for pre-flight testing
[03:44.40]instead of continued travel restrictions
[03:47.80]between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
[03:51.60]Nicole Carriere is a spokeswoman for United Airlines.
[03:57.12]She said testing is "key to unlocking international borders
[04:02.28]and safely reopening global travel."
[04:06.20]Others say the CDC order is unlikely
[04:09.44]to cause an immediate increase in international travel.
[04:13.64]Henry Harteveldt is a travel expert with Atmosphere Research Group.
[04:19.92]He told The Associated Press,
[04:22.96]"People are being encouraged by their public health authorities
[04:27.16]to not travel, even domestically."
[04:31.08]He added that he does not expect air travel to increase until the summer,
[04:37.24]after more people have been vaccinated.
[04:40.76]I'm Ashley Thompson. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM