IMPORTANT UPDATE:
Below are the main elements of the new policy, which will be effective for any international travel as of Monday, December 6, 2021.
U.S. Citizens Required to Test Within One Day of Travel
- Effective December 6, all U.S. citizens, regardless of vaccination status, will need to show proof of a negative COVID test taken within 1 day of travel, or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, before they board their flight. Previously, all vaccinated travelers were required to produce a negative viral test result within three days of travel to the United States, and unvaccinated U.S. citizens to show negative test taken within one day of departure. The test can be either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) such as a PCR test.
Mask Mandate Extended
- The federal mask mandate on public transportation, including international travel, will be extended through April 18, 2022. This includes transportation hubs such as airports and indoor bus terminals. Fines for noncompliance are a minimum of $500 and up to $3,000 for repeat offenders.
PREVIOUS UPDATE (no longer valid; all testing must be done 1 day prior to flight):
Travel requirements to enter the United States are changing, starting November 8, 2021. Previously the January 26, 2021 policy required a negative COVID-19 test taken no earlier than 3 days prior to a US-bound flight. On October 25th, the US government announced a change to that policy:
Before boarding a flight to the United States, US citizens/permanent residents are required to show one of the following:
• If you are fully vaccinated*: Proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 3 days before travel. (This is the same testing window in place right now.)
• If you are NOT fully vaccinated: A negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 1 day before travel.
Traveling with children:
• Children between the ages of 2 and 17 who are not fully vaccinated may board a flight to the United States with a negative pre-departure COVID-19 viral test conducted on a specimen collected no more than 3 days before departure if traveling accompanied by fully vaccinated parents or guardians.
• If traveling unaccompanied or if one or more of the parents or guardians accompanying the child is not fully vaccinated, the child must present a negative pre-departure COVID-19 viral test on a specimen collected no more than 1 day before departure. While children under 2 years of age are not required to get a test, CDC recommends a pre-departure test for these children whenever possible.
In addition, all air passengers to the United States will be required to provide contact information to airlines before boarding flights to the United States. This strengthens a travel process already in place to rapidly identify and contact people in the U.S. who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, such as COVID-19. Access to travelers’ contact information will allow U.S. federal, state, and local health departments, and agencies to share appropriate health and public health information necessary to help keep the public safe.
SEE FULL DETAILS: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/international-travel-during-covid19.html
If you are fully vaccinated, you will need to travel with your official CDC vaccination card. We recommend you keep it safely with your passport – in your carryon, then kept in the safe at your resort. We recommend scheduling your COVID test as soon as you arrive to your resort.
Our great resort partners have worked tirelessly to put professional and efficient testing processes in place throughout 2021 and we expect this change to be seamless.
The Team at Berwick Travel
*You are considered fully vaccinated:
• 2 weeks (14 days) after an accepted single-dose vaccine
• 2 weeks (14 days) after your second dose of an accepted 2-dose series
• 2 weeks (14 days) after you received the full series of an active (not placebo) COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S.-based AstraZeneca or Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trials
• 2 weeks (14 days) after you received 2 doses of any “mix-and-match” combination of accepted COVID-19 vaccines administered at least 17 days apart
