REQUIREMENT FOR NEGATIVE PRE-DEPARTURE COVID-19 TEST RESULT OR DOCUMENTATION OF RECOVERY FROM COVID-19 FOR ALL AIRLINE OR OTHER AIRCRAFT PASSENGERS ARRIVING INTO THE UNITED STATES from any foreign country
(OMB Control No. 0920-1318)
Request for Emergency Clearance
Submitted 5/17/2020
Contact:
Chip Daymude
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30333
Phone: 404.718.7103
Email: [email protected]
1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods 2
2. Procedures for the Collection of Information 2
3. Methods to maximize Response Rates and Deal with No Response 3
4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken 3
5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data 3
No statistical methods are used in this data collection.
The respondent universe for this requirement is travelers and airlines carrying travelers from foreign countries to the United States.
Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 71.20, CDC’s Order prohibits the introduction into the United States of any airline passenger departing from all foreign countries unless the passenger has a negative pre-departure viral test result for COVID-19 or if recovered from COVID-19, required documentation showing they are cleared for travel.1 Travelers are required to present the test result or documentation of recover to the airline prior to boarding and attest that the information is true. The travelers must retain testing or recovery documentation for inspection by public health authorities, if requested.
Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 71.31(b), the Order constitutes a controlled free pratique to any airline with an aircraft arriving into the United States from all foreign countries. Pursuant to the controlled free pratique, the airline must comply with the following conditions in order to receive permission for the aircraft to enter and disembark passengers in the United States:
Verify that each passenger has attested to having received either a negative Qualifying Test result or to recovery from COVID-19 after previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and clearance to travel. Airlines or other aircraft operators must retain a copy of each passenger attestation for 2 years. The attestation is attached to this information collection as Attachment C.
Confirm that each passenger aged 2 years or older has documentation of a negative Qualifying Test result or Documentation of Recovery from COVID-19.
Not board any passenger without verifying the attestation and confirming the documentation as set forth in 1.a-b of the Order.
CDC is also doing random compliance checks to help ensure documentation, such as test results, meet the requirement of the Order and in the event some public health action is needed at the time of arrival. CDC may record some information presented, such as type of test used, whether recovery documentation was presented, vaccination type or status, etc. to evaluate overall program compliance and effectiveness. Collection of name and contact information may occur if a traveler’s documentation is deemed non-compliant and possible public health follow up is warranted.
An individual may receive a time limited exemption for urgent humanitarian reasons. Exemptions may be granted on an extremely limited basis when emergency travel (like an emergency medical evacuation) must occur to preserve someone’s life, health against a serious danger, or physical safety and testing cannot be completed before travel. Additional conditions may be placed on those granted such exemptions, including but not limited to providing consent to testing and/or self-quarantine after arrival in the United States, as may be directed by federal, state, territorial, tribal or local public health authorities to reduce the risk of transmission or spread. CDC will work with the Department of State in reviewing this and other information to determine if an exemption to the Order is appropriate. CDC and the Department of State may collaborate on an electronic version of this information collection to facilitate submission by the traveler to the Consular staff at U.S. Consulates and Embassies. Once CDC makes a determination regarding the exemption, the individual will receive letter from CDC indicating approval or denial.
Finally, some outbound air passengers flying to foreign countries may be denied entry to the destination country. This can happen for various reasons, including not having a COVID-19 test for entry to that foreign country, issues with their visas or travel documents, etc. These inadmissible travelers, then have to return to the United States as soon as possible and in most cases will not have time to get a COVID-19 test to board a plane back to the United States. When this occurs, CDC asks airlines to notify them and provide contact and itinerary information to CDC so that the passenger is not deemed as non-compliant. CDC may share the contact information of the passenger with state and local health departments in case public health follow up is needed.
This information is required if an individual seeks to travel by aircraft to the United States.
No statistical methods are used in this data collection. Therefore, no individuals were consulted.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Samuel, Lee (CDC/OID/NCEZID) |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-05-31 |