Cuomo asks DHS to require COVID-19 tests for worldwide airline travellers

Wed, Jan 6th 2021 05:10 pm

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday issued a letter to U.S. Division of Homeland Stability Performing Secretary Chad Wolf inquiring him to demand that airline tourists to the U.S. obtain a destructive COVID-19 test end result in advance of becoming allowed into the region.

Around 120 international locations need passengers present a detrimental test final result prior to boarding global flights. In between 70,000 and 80,000 international passengers arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York Town just about every 7 days. The federal federal government now needs tourists from the U.K. to get a damaging check consequence, but the U.K. variant of COVID-19 has unfold to more than 30 other nations.

The entire textual content of the letter is below:

January 6, 2021

Dear Performing Secretary Wolf:

I produce to you with an urgent plea. I check with that you instantly choose motion with the CDC and HHS to need a adverse PCR examination in just 72 hours of departure for all passengers arriving from international places.

There are currently 70-80,000 passengers arriving at JFK from outside of the United States each week. I have for months deployed as several as 100 staff to meet domestic flights, and enforce our domestic journey quarantine, but do not have obtain to arrivals of international flights. People locations of the airport are below the sole federal handle of Customs and Border Protection and the CDC. As soon as an unique is currently on U.S. soil, I think it is way too late anyway.

Quite a few other international locations acted aggressively in November or December to possibly floor flights fully, or to fulfill flights to implement stringent quarantines and testing specifications. Some 120 countries call for that every passenger existing a adverse examination final result prior to boarding, and dozens more limit all vacation entirely. On December 25, you belatedly demanded a detrimental examination final result from travelers returning from the U.K. only. But the U.K. variant, “B.1.1.7” which has so much been approximated at any where from 50-70% extra transmissible, has now been identified in extra than 30 other nations. This strain is so virulent it went from getting merely a quarter of all U.K. instances in November to above two-thirds in just one thirty day period. A South African and now Nigerian strain have also been determined, both displaying evidence of improved transmissibility.

When we do not still know if there is any affect on the potential of these variants to outsmart the vaccines we so urgently formulated, we can only hope that we halt it prior to it surges our caseload beyond the ability of the U.S. well being treatment technique.

The only way to control this is to handle this at the supply – avoid any passenger who is optimistic from acquiring on the plane. We observed from our have genetic screening that the virus that arrived in New York arrived in this article from Europe, not China. It was our failure to manage the airports that brought this virus to us. We have now noticed that the action taken on Christmas was much too late to stop the U.K. strain from creating its way to New York and other states, and has been circulating.

We can still find out our slip-up from past spring, we can do what have to be completed – get all airlines flying into the U.S. from worldwide locations to need a destructive COVID-19 exam. It is not plenty of to only deal with the U.K. that ship has sailed. We can, nevertheless, avoid the future mutation by following the science.

I am prepared to aid in any way I can, but only Customs and Border Safety can genuinely shield us from this subsequent danger.

Sincerely,

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

cc:

Secretary Azar, Wellness and Human Companies

Dr. Redfield, CDC