LONDON (CNN) — Passengers arriving in the United States from the United Kingdom must test negative for COVID-19 before departure, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late Thursday night.
Passengers will be required to have a negative PCR or antigen test within 72 hours of boarding their flight from the U.K. to the U.S. Passengers are also required to provide documentation of their laboratory results, either as a hard copy or electronic.
Airlines are required to confirm the test results before the flight, and passengers will not be permitted to board if they refuse a test or do not provide documentation.
The order is in response to a new coronavirus variant that is said to have originated in the U.K. and is potentially more transmissible. Since the discovery of the variant, more than 40 countries have restricted travel from the U.K. and in some cases, also travel from other countries that have documented cases with the variant.