Throughout the epidemic, COVID-19 testing requirements have come and gone in most countries of the world, with the summer of 2022 being the “most common” result.
The United States is one of the last countries to conduct pre-arrival testing, despite pressure from tourism boards, airlines and passenger requirements.
Well, good things come to those who wait, and the United States will finally eliminate their pre-arrival test requirements from this midnight. Sunday, June 12, 2022.
The US will no longer require pre-arrival tests
The White House has confirmed that the COVID-19 test for entry into the United States will end immediately. From midnight June 12, 2022, All travelers will no longer need a COVID-19 test to enter the United States.
Since January 2021, when an antigen test was required to enter the United States, the timeline was changed as the epidemic progressed. Then, travelers would have to complete a rapid antigen test within three days of their flight, and this was finally tightened in one day as COVID-19 variants began to appear.
Somewhat ridiculously, the U.S. test requirements were met with envy by Canadians for the better part of a year, as the Canadian government required more complex molecular COVID-19 tests to be taken within the 72-hour period of the final direct flight to Canada.
When Canada abolished all COVID-19 testing requirements on April 1, 2022, and soon, the United States was seen as an outsider in maintaining its test-and-enter scheme.
With these recent changes, the United States will return equally if the entry requirements are not relaxed compared to Canada.
Canadians still need to fill out the ArriveCAN form before entering the country. Meanwhile, from June 12, the United States will only require a pre-departure attestation form, which many airlines allow you to complete by ticking a checkbox during the online check-in process.
Covid-19 travel ban lifted?
Of course, the massive phasing out of travel restrictions does not mean that the COVID-19 epidemic is over.
Instead, it signals a shift from the United States and most countries around the world to consider Covid-19 as local and to learn to live with it instead of enforcing dubious travel bans.
At the moment, the world is completely open again, and it really is a handful of East Asian countries that are closed for entry, while other handfuls need pre-departure molecular or antigen testing.
The removal of its pre-arrival testing requirement in the United States is particularly significant for Canadians, who represent the vast majority of tourists visiting our neighbors in the South.
I’ve been to the United States a few times in the last few months and transited, and the need to complete an antigen test within a day of departure has always been a thorn in my side, both booking and showing hassle for checking appointments and spending extra money.
With a few more travel schedules in the U.S. for the rest of the summer, I’m glad the test requirements will be eliminated from this Sunday, and we’ll have nothing less to worry about once we start a new adventure. Again
Conclusion
Summer 2022 undoubtedly marks the true return of travel with all its glory, and the pre-arrival test requirements of the United States represent one of the last domineering readings here in North America.
Beginning at midnight on June 12, 2022, the United States will no longer require rapid antigen testing before arriving by air, with their travel policies aligning with most domestic health policies that recognize COVID-19 as local.
