Beginning Monday, United travelers traveling from London to Newark will be needed to show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test, according to an announcement Thursday by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Negative arise from a molecular COVID-19 test or antigen test must be obtained within 72 hours of departure from London Heathrow Airport for inbound flights to Newark Liberty International Airport.
“As we continue to experience the 2nd wave of COVID-19 cases, it’s vital that we take any and all precautions to reduce the capacity for more transmission,” Murphy stated in a statement. ” While New Jersey continues to highly discourage all non-essential travel at this time if unavoidable, global travelers should comply with CDC assistance for pre-and post-flight testing and the recommended self-quarantine duration.”
On Thursday, New Jersey reported 4,871 favorable COVID-19 cases and 80 verified deaths, bringing the statewide overalls given that the start of the pandemic to 449,842 cases and 16,599 deaths.
According to United, the policy will likewise affect incoming flights from London to its centers in Chicago, Washington, and San Francisco. People connecting in London Heathrow Airport onto a United flight from another nation will be exempt.
“The health and wellness of our staff members and clients are our highest top priority,” the airline said in a declaration.
United will run 4 daily flights in between London and its centers in Chicago, Newark, Washington, and San Francisco for the month of December and two day-to-day flights in between London and its hubs in Newark and Chicago in January 2021. Same-day, pre-flight fast tests will be available for ticketed travelers at the Collinson screening center situated in Terminal 2 at London Heathrow.
The relocation follows a new version of COVID-19 that was discovered in the UK previously this month, which has led to flight constraints from multiple European Union countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, and Ireland.
As researchers study the variation, over 500,000 dosages of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the U.K., according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson
The variant in the UK hasn’t been determined through sequencing in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Illness Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Nevertheless, viruses have just been sequenced from about 51,000 of the 17 million U.S. cases, CDC authorities said.
The flexibility of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine “consists of the capability to alter the RNA sequence in the vaccine to cover brand-new stress of the virus, if one ever were to emerge that is not well covered by the current vaccine,” A Pfizer spokesperson told Fox News on Tuesday.
In addition, Pfizer and BioNTech have checked individuals immunized with the COVID-19 vaccine for its ability to reduce the effects of multiple mutant strains.
“To date, we have found constant protection of all the pressures tested,” the Pfizer representative said.
The 2 companies are now generating information on how well people vaccinated with the vaccine may be able to fight off the brand-new stress from the U.K.
In addition to the stress found in England, Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed on Wednesday that another variation of the infection has been spotted in two individuals who were contacts of cases that originated from current travel to South Africa.
Hancock stated the new variation is “extremely worrying” because it “is yet more transmissible and it appears to have altered even more than the brand-new version that was discovered in the U.K.”
While researchers continue to study the potential implications of the brand-new version, the U.K. has purchased those with brand-new cases and close contacts of cases detected in the U.K. to quarantine, and placed immediate limitations on travel from South Africa.
“Anybody in the U.K. who has remained in South Africa in the previous fortnight, and anyone who is a close contact of someone who has remained in South Africa in the previous fortnight should quarantine immediately,” he said, adding that they must restrict all contact “with any individual, whatsoever.”
According to the newest update from Johns Hopkins University, the United has exceeded 18.5 million validated coronavirus cases, with more than 328,000 Americans who have passed away due to COVID-19.