Covid testing before flying could become the norm as airlines try to boost confidence and woo travelers

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Tue, 2020-11-17 17:56 — mike kraft

Covid testing before flying could become the norm as airlines try to boost confidence and woo travelers More than 100 countries already require proof of a negative coronavirus test for entry. Lori Aratani, Ian Duncan Washington Post

With no federal mandates to follow, an increasing number of U.S. airlines and airports are offering preflight coronavirus testing to boost public confidence in flying during the pandemic and help restore their businesses.

The move mirrors what is already being done in countries around the world where preflight testing is seen as a way to reopen for business while helping control the spread of the virus.

More than 100 countries now require proof of a negative coronavirus test for entry, and in some cases travelers with negative results are allowed to skip otherwise mandatory quarantines. The International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations body that oversees aviation, issued new recommendations last week that acknowledged the potential of such programs. The organization’s approach leaves the decision regarding quarantines up to individual nations, but it said it would publish a manual in coming days to help governments develop policies....

Many international airports, including in Turkey and Germany, were among the first to offer such testing. In recent months, airlines and airports in the United States, including in Connecticut, Florida, New York and San Francisco, have begun offering the option as air travel continues to stall.

Domestic air travel is down 64 percent compared with what is was a year ago; international travel lags even more, down 74 percent for the same time period. At the same time, U.S. coronavirus cases are surging, with the seven-day average of new cases on Monday reaching its highest level, topping 150,000. Overseas, some countries have reinstituted shutdowns. ...

Abraar Karan, a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said testing could serve two purposes: reducing the risk of the virus spreading onboard planes and limiting infections between different communities. When the virus is spread widely across the country and the world, catching infected people leaving areas with higher rates of transmission could help slow it down.

But Karan said there are trade-offs. False positives might keep passengers who could actually travel safely off planes. And perhaps most importantly, a single test is just a snapshot in time and won’t detect people in the early stages of the illness. It may take up to 14 days after a person is exposed for symptoms to develop. ...

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