The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will require coronavirus testing for passengers flying to the United States from the United Kingdom in an effort to curb the spread of a new version of the coronavirus, CNN reports.
Any person planning to fly to the US must have a negative coronavirus test within three days of their scheduled flight.
“Today, President Trump is taking another step to protect the health of the American people by requiring air passengers arriving from the United Kingdom (U.K.) to test negative, via PCR or Antigen test, no more than 72 hours before departure from the U.K. to the United States,” the CDC said in a statement.
Public health professionals, however, describe the effort like “like putting up a chain link fence to keep out a mosquito,” which would only stop the spread by 5 to 9%.
The new strain of the coronavirus has a 70% greater chance of infecting someone after contact. It’s lead to widespread outbreaks in Southern England. The strain has already been found in other countries, and is likely already in the US.