GBTA Calls For End Of Testing

The Global Business Travel Association is applauding the bipartisan effort to end the current testing requirement for all vaccinated inbound travellers to the United States.

And the GBTA is calling on the Biden Administration to immediately end the testing requirements and move to allow vaccinated travellers to fly into the U.S.

The current rule requires all U.S. inbound travellers to present a negative COVID-19 test within one day before boarding their flight into the U.S. and regardless of their vaccination status or citizenship.

Exempting fully vaccinated travellers, including almost 215 million Americans, from the order would be consistent with the scientific consensus that widespread vaccinations are the single most important element of the fight against COVID-19 while allowing the travel industry’s recovery to accelerate.

As business travel and travel at large struggle, many in GBTA’s business travel recovery surveys cite government requirements such as testing as a major, if not the greatest, barrier.

Yet, it is unclear whether at this stage in the pandemic the current testing rule is having any meaningful impact on the spread of COVID-19 from overseas destinations to the U.S.

As of today, more than 78 million people have contracted COVID-19 in the U.S., meaning that at least 23% of the population has had the virus — though this figure is almost certainly underestimated due to the number of asymptomatic infections and limited testing early in the pandemic.

Go to www.gbta.org for more.