"Inefficient..." US to Stop COVID Testing at 15 Airports Starting Next Week

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The U.S. government has decided to suspend COVID-19 testing for incoming travelers at 15 major airports starting from the 14th, according to reports by AP News and others on the 10th (local time).

According to the reports, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it will end the testing conducted on all flights arriving from high-risk COVID-19 regions to 15 U.S. airports starting next week.

The CDC explained that the reason for stopping the tests is that ongoing temperature checks and symptom questionnaires for arrivals have not been very effective. They added that many infected individuals are asymptomatic or very few in number, making the process inefficient. The CDC stated that among approximately 675,000 tested arrivals so far, fewer than 15 cases of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed.

Instead, the CDC plans to strengthen disease reporting measures at airports and focus more on voluntary actions such as educating arrivals and requesting contact information electronically.

Health experts have expressed concerns about this decision. Even if testing is deemed inefficient, it is difficult to accept easing measures without implementing alternative actions.

According to the international statistics site Worldometer, as of today, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. stands at 6,588,181, ranking first in the world.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.