COVID-19 Testing Requirement to Enter US Will Finally Be Dropped
In a victory for whatever shreds of common sense are left in modern society, news reports broke today that the Biden Administration would be dropping the requirement for travelers to provide proof of a negative COVID test within 24 hours of entering the United States.
Before giving them too much credit for finally accepting that pre-departure testing does nothing to prevent the spread of COVID, it's worth pointing out that this same administration recently filed an appeal to retain the power to bring back mask mandates on public transit.
Even so, it's a welcome victory for following actual science, as the CDC's order enforcing the entry requirement proved to be one of the most useless policies to control the spread of COVID in the United States.
Cases in the US rose from a daily average of 20,596 in June to 806,795 by January 2022, an increase of 3,817% even with the testing mandate in place.
The seven day average of new cases reported in the United States
Of course, when announcing the initial order, former CDC director Robert Redfield made the nonsensical claim that this requirement, in combination with "precautions" like masks and social distancing, would reduce spread and make travel safer:
Yet cases rose 3,817% in the United States even with testing and masks required, and the end of masking on planes did not lead to any surge of COVID related flight cancellations:
There was no acknowledgment of that in today's reports and it seems unlikely it'll ever be acknowledged. Especially because reports suggested the CDC would "reassess" the decision in 90 days, implying they may unilaterally decide to bring back a pointless, futile policy with zero benefits and massive harms.
But then again, the CDC and Biden Administration are still essentially banning unvaccinated travelers from entering the country, long after it became universally accepted that vaccinated individuals can easily contract and spread the virus.
While absurd, useless COVID "interventions" continue and school masking is enforced in many districts throughout the country, at least one of the "expert" promoted policies has finally come to an end.