US will end COVID-19 testing requirement for air travellers entering the country

The US administration is expected to announce that the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will lift its requirement for travellers to test negative for COVID-19 before entering the US.

CNN reports that according to a senior administration official and a US Centres For Disease Control and Prevention, the move will go into effect for US-bound air travellers from midnight tomorrow.

The senior administration official says CDC is lifting the restriction that the travel industry had lobbied against for months after determining it was no longer necessary "based on the science and data".

The CDC will reassess its decision in 90 days.

In a statement to CNN, the CDC says COVID-19 pandemic has now shifted to a new phase, due to the widespread uptake of highly effective COVID-19 vaccines, the availability of effective therapeutics, and the accrual of high rates of vaccine - and infection-induced immunity at the population level in the United States and adds each of these measures has contributed to lower risk of severe disease and death across the United States.

[Source: CNN]