“There is currently an active discussion with the CDC,” Buttigieg told Axios. “What I can tell you is that it will be guided by data, by science, by medicine and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry it out.”
Buttigieg stressed in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday that the “CDC is looking at all its options”.
“What we do know is that this is the appropriate measure for international travel. People traveling to the US consider some of the considerations. You know the local picture is very different, but you know that the CDC always evaluates what works best. can be done to keep Americans safe, ”Buttigieg said.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Monday that the investigation of U.S. travelers for Covid-19 could be helpful. But she did not elaborate on whether there are plans to test travelers inland.
“To the extent that we have available tests to be able to test first, I would really encourage people not to travel,” Walensky said during an information session in the White House. “But if we’re traveling, it’s another mitigation measure to try to reduce the spread.”
When asked by Buttigieg if he supported the idea of requiring a Covid-19 vaccine before air travel, he said it belonged to the CDC.
“So this is not a step that has been taken, and once again, CDC is really the leader in deciding what the right measures will be.”
Will airports like LAX in Los Angeles handle local Covid-19 tests in the future? The Biden administration is considering it.
Getty Images / Siegfried Layda
Domestic versus international tests
The discussion follows a CDC rule that went into effect in late January, requiring negative Covid-19 tests for international travelers, U.S. citizens and residents entering the United States.
The American Travel Association, a national non-profit organization, described the rule for incoming travelers as ‘key to reopening international travel’.
However, the group does not support a test requirement for domestic air travelers.
Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, calls mandatory tests for domestic travelers an awful idea, citing some documented cases of Covid shipment on board aircraft and is concerned that the test of air travelers will remove the resources of the test from areas with a greater need.
“It will not keep domestic kites safer,” Bastian told CNN’s Poppy Harlow. “If it’s something, it’s going to keep people away from what they need to do to not only start pulling out essential travel, but also people need to start recycling their lives.”
He said it would be a “logistical nightmare” that would delay the recovery of the entire hospitality sector.
Other groups are concerned
The operating body Airlines for America also expressed concern about the possible test requirement for domestic air travel.
In a recent letter to the White House, the organization stressed the risk-based measures to mitigate the Covid-19 transmission that the industry has adopted, and research shows that the risk of infection during the flight is low.
“Given the strong scientific evidence that the risk of Covid-19 on board an aircraft is very low, we believe that a test requirement for domestic air travel is unfounded,” the letter reads.
“Furthermore, the health and economic data suggest that this policy would excessively prevent low-income travelers and rural Americans in small communities from traveling.”
A4A also acknowledges the American Travel Association’s concern that such tests would divert resources from more urgent public health priorities.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is also opposed to requiring the testing of domestic air travelers, saying the federal government should pay for tests if the requirement is accepted.
“Placing such a burden on the already financially besieged airline industry has the potential for serious unintended consequences that will ripple the entire economy,” said Stanley Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Covid-19 Recovery Team.
“If a test mandate is prescribed by the Administration, money must also be provided to fulfill it.”
CNN’s Jacqueline Howard, Nick Neville, Andrea Diaz and Pete Muntean contributed to this report. Top photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images