No Ending - Covid Testing For Returning Americans

[Drake3287]

Okay, more of a rant and I don't mean for this to become political which of course it will, but at what point will the US give us more information as too when they might drop the covid testing requirement for returning American's from international trips?

Is there no goal post for when this policy might expire? I know millions of Americans are waiting to hear more on this policy but little is ever mentioned about it. So much for planning summer trips.

For me, I find it hard to understand how unvaccinated, covid positive travelers can fly all day long domestically but a fully vaccinated person has to test in order to fly home from an international trip.

 

[flyingaway]

I do hope they drop the testing requirement, which makes one more loop to jump for international travel. Many European countries have dropped the testing requirements and maybe the testing facilities, I am not sure how people will get tested in some European countries before they fly back to the U.S. in the future.

 

[omni550]

I do hope they drop the testing requirement, which makes one more loop to jump for international travel. Many European countries have dropped the testing requirements and maybe the testing facilities, I am not sure how people will get tested in some European countries before they fly back to the U.S. in the future.

When I flew to Europe in Summer 2021, I hand-carried 2 Covid tests in my luggage as I was unsure of how I'd get tested before returning to the US.

Delta Airlines had a partnership deal with Anova for test kits and video observation of testing. I had to download their app and set up an Anova account before leaving the US, along with an appointment for someone to observe me taking the Covid test and confirming the result 24 (or was it 48?) hours before my return flight's departure. Anova sent me 2 tests to hand-carry (in case one test failed in some manner) on the trip.

I was a bit stressed-out, but it all worked out fine.

omni

 

[Physics Guy]

I have to laugh a little at this. Here in Korea the US requirement of a RAT test prior to entry seems easy to get and relatively cheap. Meanwhile the requirement to get a PCR test within two days prior to reentry into Korea seems expensive and hard to get since most PCR test sites want to say results in 2-3 days.

 

[USGrant1962]

The whole "vaccinated American citizens must test to return" thing has been nothing but a gift to the anti-vaxxers. I'll stop there.

 

[athena53]

I find it annoying, too. I'm headed to Germany next month and after trying to plow through some German sites to get information I found a few in English. Looks like I can get an appointment at a few sites in Munich, where I'll be staying, and any time the day before departure is fine. It was about 50 Euros, results in half an hour. An inconvenience but manageable.

 

[target2019]

In time we forget the more valuable lessons of the recent past.

Infectious diseases don't recognize borders. Closed environments are petri dishes.

I recall being taken aside when we landed in New Zealand, so that I could be checked in various ways for insects and such that could cause irreparable harm to the unique environment.

It's inconvenient but we were aware of the rules and guidelines of each country and the airline that got us there.

 

[Alan]

Surely it must end soon. Last month our daughter flew in from LA to England, proof of vaccination only, CDC card worked. After a couple of weeks, along with our son, we all flew to Barcelona where proof of vaccination only is required. When she flew back to the USA she had to do a Covid test and was pretty stressed out about it. She had stayed on a week after we returned to England to attend a set of work meetings so her company arranged and paid for the Covid tests but it was the worry about testing positive and having to stay in Barcelona and miss the company chartered flight home that got to her.

 

[Drake3287]

We plan on going to Switzerland next month with our return flight out of Zurich in early June. "If" either myself or my wife (both most likely) test positive I'm stuck in a hotel room for maybe 10 days at a cost of thousands of dollars when you throw in room service for the entire time.

Meanwhile, hundreds if not thousands of unvaccinated, covid positive people are flying domestically everyday in the US. It makes me so mad I could scream! If every had to follow the same policy I'd half understand.

 

[Montecfo]

It's also a tax on international travel. Many Americans fear getting stuck somewhere.

 

[cathy63]

I realize this won't work for everyone, but there's no Covid test required to cross a land border. If you fear that a test will be hard to obtain before coming home, it might be worth making travel plans that have you return via a land border and then make a domestic flight to your final destination.

If you happen to be in Central or South America, the TIJ airport has a nice bridge that you can walk across to San Diego. As of yesterday, Canada no longer requires pre-entry testing, and there's a trian from Vancouver to Seattle. I don't know what options there might be from Toronto or Montreal.

 

[tulak]

The train between Seattle and Vancouver isn’t running anymore. I have no idea why and hope it’s only temporary.

I have multiple international flights coming up and also hope the US testing requirement goes away. I won’t change any of my plans. I learned to be flexible with my travels during covid. If something happens, then I’ll deal with it. Not much more you can do if you want to travel.

 

[cathy63]

The train between Seattle and Vancouver isn’t running anymore. I have no idea why and hope it’s only temporary.

Amtrak says they have resumed the Thruway bus service between Vancouver and Seattle. Hopefully they'll get the train going again soon.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Given the high degree of exposure to strangers in the airport, we should not relax testing requirements but make rapid test x2 the norm.

We are going to see another surge soon. Our numbers have gone as low as they are likely to go for now. Relaxing travel requirements is nonsensical. We go through scanners and cannot bring water bottles through security. Yet we are not relaxing those standards. How many people have died from airline terrorism vs acquiring Covid through travel?

Getting vaccinated, tested and wearing a mask is no big deal compared with hospitalization due to Covid. Remember that unvaccinated, unmasked babies travel with their parents. The mark of a civilization is how they protect their most vulnerable.

 

[jj]

I returned last week from a trip to the UK to see my mother.

48 hours before my flight, I had to upload a view of my CDC card to prove vaccination status plus complete the UK's Passenger Locator form online showing where I was staying. While I was on the trip the UK completely did away with those requirements - there is now no requirement to be vaccinated.

For the US I had to get a negative Covid test to travel home. As Alan says from the experience with his daughter, it's incredibly stressful not knowing for certain that you will be able to travel home. I had the additional worry that a relative I met up with tested positive for Covid a couple of days after I had seen her. That sent me into daily testing mode, absolutely terrified that I would contract Covid and fail my test to come home!

Travel is still truly unpleasant. I can't believe that the airlines aren't lobbying the US government to abandon these tests for US entry.

To add, I carried US tests proctored through eMed on my visit last October. For my recent trip, I sent for a proctored test through a UK company linked through the airline website. Both gave acceptable results at a cost of around $50 per test.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

When I flew to Europe in Summer 2021, I hand-carried 2 Covid tests in my luggage as I was unsure of how I'd get tested before returning to the US.

Delta Airlines had a partnership deal with Anova for test kits and video observation of testing. I had to download their app and set up an Anova account before leaving the US, along with an appointment for someone to observe me taking the Covid test and confirming the result 24 (or was it 48?) hours before my return flight's departure. Anova sent me 2 tests to hand-carry (in case one test failed in some manner) on the trip.

I was a bit stressed-out, but it all worked out fine.

omni

It's all good until you are selected for screening at the foreign country upon arrival and they confiscate your at-home tests. Ask me how I know.

 

[Sojourner]

For me, I find it hard to understand how unvaccinated, covid positive travelers can fly all day long domestically but a fully vaccinated person has to test in order to fly home from an international trip.

And the policy is going to be even more baffling starting April 18, when unmasked, unvaccinated folks will be flying unrestricted all over the place domestically, yet fully vaccinated and boosted folks coming in from overseas will still have to be tested before re-entering.

IMHO, no one who's fully vaccinated and boosted should have to be tested in order to get on a plane unless they are coming from a country (or local area) with very high case numbers.

 

[ivinsfan]

I returned last week from a trip to the UK to see my mother.

48 hours before my flight, I had to upload a view of my CDC card to prove vaccination status plus complete the UK's Passenger Locator form online showing where I was staying. While I was on the trip the UK completely did away with those requirements - there is now no requirement to be vaccinated.

For the US I had to get a negative Covid test to travel home. As Alan says from the experience with his daughter, it's incredibly stressful not knowing for certain that you will be able to travel home. I had the additional worry that a relative I met up with tested positive for Covid a couple of days after I had seen her. That sent me into daily testing mode, absolutely terrified that I would contract Covid and fail my test to come home!

Travel is still truly unpleasant. I can't believe that the airlines aren't lobbying the US government to abandon these tests for US entry.

To add, I carried US tests proctored through eMed on my visit last October. For my recent trip, I sent for a proctored test through a UK company linked through the airline website. Both gave acceptable results at a cost of around $50 per test.

Well JJ from your own account it was more than possible you could have contracted Covid. If you test positive you shouldn't go on an airplane testing requirement or no. I don't see how having to get a test would have changed anything in your case. Non domestic flights tend to be longer so I can't see the downside in knowing your plane has tested negative for Covid.

 

[bmcgonig]

To those who don’t want this testing anymore, would they be ok getting on a plane knowing that they are positive for Covid?

 

[disneysteve]

Given the high degree of exposure to strangers in the airport, we should not relax testing requirements but make rapid test x2 the norm.

Rapid tests are only useful if they're positive. A negative rapid test tells you nothing.


We regularly have patients come in after two (or more) negative home tests who test positive on the PCR we do.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

To those who don’t want this testing anymore, would they be ok getting on a plane knowing that they are positive for Covid?

Or:

To those who don’t want this testing anymore, would they be ok getting on a plane knowing that [-]they[/-] their seatmates are positive for Covid?

 

[USGrant1962]

Or:

To those who don’t want this testing anymore, would they be ok getting on a plane knowing that [-]they[/-] their seatmates are positive for Covid?

About two million people a day already travel on domestic flights without testing.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I am taking a trip to Ireland in June and the tour company will handle the testing. I wouldn’t get on a plane if I had Covid.

 

[CardsFan]

Rapid tests are only useful if they're positive. A negative rapid test tells you nothing.


We regularly have patients come in after two (or more) negative home tests who test positive on the PCR we do.

A serious question to you medical folks:

I have read that a PCR test can show a positive result weeks after a patient has recovered. Does this mean they are still contagious?

Also, I understand the rapid tests are more acciurate on the positive side than the negative, but if someone has 3 negative tests aren't the odds pretty high they don't have Covid?

Nothing in life is 100%.

 

[Walt34]

Or:

To those who don’t want this testing anymore, would they be ok getting on a plane knowing that [-]they[/-] their seatmates are positive for Covid?

About two million people a day already travel on domestic flights without testing.

That was not the question.