Coronavirus: what to expect as US reopens to vaccinated foreign travellers | South China Morning Post
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Coronavirus: what to expect as US reopens to vaccinated foreign travellers
The United States was expecting a flood of international visitors crossing its borders by air and by land after lifting travel restrictions for much of the world’s population first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of Covid-19.And Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Ed Bastian warned travellers should be prepared for initial long lines.“It’s going to be a bit sloppy at first. I can assure you, there will be lines unfortunately,” Bastian said, adding that “we’ll get it sorted out”.Delta said in the six weeks since the US reopening was announced it has seen a 450 per cent increase in international point-of-sale bookings versus the six weeks prior to the announcement.
White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter “As we expect high demand when the US lifts its existing air and land travel restrictions Monday, we are taking critical steps to be prepared by providing additional resources”. The Biden administration has held multiple calls with US airlines to prepare for the influx of additional travellers that were to begin arriving at US airports and has warned travellers crossing from Canada and Mexico by land or ferry to be prepared for longer waits starting Monday.
The rules have barred most non-US citizens who within the prior 14 days have been in 33 countries – the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border controls, China, India, South Africa, Iran, Brazil, Britain and Ireland.
Trade group US Travel said the countries accounted for 53 per cent of all overseas visitors to the United States in 2019 and border communities were hit hard by the loss of tourists crossing from Mexico and Canada. The group estimates declines in international visitation “resulted in nearly US$300 billion in lost export income” since March 2020.
US airlines were boosting flights to Europe and other destinations that were impacted by the restrictions. Many international flights were expected to operate close to full or full on Monday, with high passenger volume throughout the following weeks. Airlines will check vaccination documentation for international travellers as they currently do for Covid-19 test results. At land border crossings, US Customs and Border Protection will ask if travellers have been vaccinated and spot check some documentation.Children under 18 are exempt from the new vaccine requirements. Non-tourist travellers from nearly 50 countries with nationwide vaccination rates of less than 10 per cent will also be eligible for exemption.
New contact tracing rules will take effect requiring airlines to collect information from international air passengers if needed “to follow up with travellers who have been exposed to Covid-19 variants or other pathogens”. A second phase, beginning in early January, will require all visitors to be fully vaccinated to enter the United States by land, no matter the reason for their trip. US health authorities have said all vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization would be accepted for entry by air.At the moment, this includes the AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Covaxin, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.The United States has not yet commented on the increase in Covid-19 cases in Europe.The WHO has expressed “grave concern” over the rising pace of infections in Europe, warning that the current trajectory could mean “another half a million Covid-19 deaths” by February. But speaking for the United States, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday on ABC that he’s “cautiously optimistic about where we are”, while adding: “We can’t take our foot off the accelerator until we’re at the finish line”.
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