US Government Ending Enhanced Screening for Some International Travelers

The United States Government announced Thursday it would end enhanced screening of some international passengers for COVID-19 starting on Monday, September 14.

According to Reuters.com, officials are implementing the changes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it changed requirements due to the limited effectiveness of symptom-based screening.

The enhanced screening was required for travelers who had been in Brazil, China, Iran, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Schengen region of Europe. The government is also dropping requirements that travelers coming from the targeted countries arrive at 15 designated U.S. airports.

Airlines for America told Reuters its members “no longer believe that it makes sense to continue screening at these 15 airports given the extremely low number of passengers identified by the CDC as potentially having a health issue.”

Data shows that of 675,000 passengers at the 15 airports who underwent the enhanced screening, fewer than 15 had been identified as having a confirmed coronavirus case.

The airports ending enhanced screening include Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Atlanta, New York JFK, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington-Dulles, Newark, Seattle and San Francisco.