US to end pre-entry Covid testing requirements this weekend

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to lift its requirement for travelers to test negative for Covid-19 before entering the US, CNN reported Friday morning.

The Biden administration is expected to announce the change today, CNN reports. The changes will reportedly go into effect at midnight on Sunday.

A senior administration official told CNN that the travel industry had lobbied against the current entry requirements for months after determining it was no longer necessary "based on the science and data."

News — The Biden administration is going to announce today that CDC is lifting its requirement for travelers to test negative before entering the U.S., per a senior administration official. The move will go into effect for U.S.-bound air travelers at midnight June 12.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 10, 2022

The US testing requirements for entry have been in place in varying scopes since January 2021.

Currently, all people aged two and older traveling to the US from a foreign country, including from Ireland, are required to provide proof of negative Covid-19 test or documentation of recovery from Covid-19.

However, as per the CDC, non-US citizens and non-US immigrants must be fully vaccinated with the primary series of an accepted Covid-19 vaccine to travel to the United States by plane; only limited exceptions apply. It is unclear if the vaccination requirement is going to be lifted.

The United States lifted its so-called "travel ban" on EU and UK tourists in November 2021 which had been introduced by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 and continued in January 2021 when President Biden took office. Under the "ban," only American citizens, their immediate families, green card holders, and those with national interest exemptions could travel to the US if they had been in the EU, including Ireland, or the UK, including Northern Ireland, within the previous 14 days.

The shift in US policy comes six months after Ireland scrapped its testing requirements for entry for vaccinated travelers. Later, in March, Ireland did away with all of its Covid-19 requirements for incoming travelers.