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In recent months, as countries across Europe lifted travel restrictions and more Americans traveled abroad, many of them had to self-isolate after testing positive before returning home. The CDC recommends travelers isolate and postpone travel for 10 days regardless of symptoms or a negative test taken within the isolation period. Some people who didn’t want to wait that long used a “back door” route, rback home through the land borders with Canada and Mexico, which does not require a coronavirus test.
For Mr Biden, the decision to drop the demand is welcome news at a time when the government is struggling on a number of fronts. White House officials described the decision as confirmation of the president’s efforts to fight the virus aggressively.
The CDC decision was important and had come much too late, said Dr. Luciana Borio, a former acting chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration who also oversaw public health preparedness for the National Security Council. She said federal scientists should continue to think about the goals of the pandemic response and how effective certain interventions are. Most transmission, she said, took place domestically.
“If the aim is to minimize the number of Covid cases in this country, the impact of admission screening is negligible,” she said. “We are at a point where we have the tools to minimize the morbidity and mortality associated with the virus. We need to focus on the measures that are most effective.”
The rule, she added, “also has a disproportionate impact on people who cannot afford to be trapped in an international country.”
Some American travelers currently traveling abroad breathed a sigh of relief on Friday for fear they would test positive and get stuck. Lucia Torres, 39, who is booked to fly home from Spain to Florida with her husband on Tuesday, said she canceled some planned activities for the final days of her vacation because she feared she would be positive before her flight home. would test. She and her husband have been vaccinated and boosted.
“When we booked our holiday we decided to take the risk, but we have not been able to fully relax because it is always in our head,” she said. “Now we don’t have to worry. I can book a massage, go to a party, do what people do on vacation.”
Noah Weiland† Maria Cramer and Sarah Cahalan reporting contributed.
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