Today the Biden administration announced a number of new requirements aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. The new measures include the following:
Requiring all inbound international travelers to the United States (including Americans) be tested for COVID within one day of departure, regardless of vaccination status
Extending the requirement to wear masks on planes and public transportation to March 18
Distributing 25 million free COVID tests to community health centers and rural clinics and requiring private health insurers to reimburse people for the costs of home COVID tests
Expanding the national campaign to encourage all adults to get booster shots
This comes days after the rapidly evolving situation regarding the Omicron variant originating in South Africa. Of note, the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed Omicron a ‘variant of concern’ based on preliminary findings that suggest a large number of mutations and high risk of reinfection rates. As a result of this new variant, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas have imposed travel restrictions from southern Africa.
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