US to cut Pre flight Test to DAY BEFORE flight

[CruisinFinsUp]

https://www.cp24.com/news/u-s-to-require-all-inbound-foreign-air-passengers-to-get-covid-test-the-day-before-1.5690362

 

WASHINGTON - By early next week, Canadians and all other foreign visitors who travel to the United States by air will need to get a COVID-19 test no later than the day before their departure.

U.S. President Joe Biden is slashing the current 72-hour testing window for fully vaccinated travellers as part of a suite of public health measures aimed at slowing the spread of the highly mutated Omicron variant.

A White House background briefing on the plan late Wednesday made no mention of land borders, or whether fully vaccinated Canadians who drive south would be required to show a test result.
.....

Currently, the U.S. requires fully vaccinated visitors who are arriving by air from Canada to get tested no more than 72 hours before departure, while those crossing by land need no test at all.

 

 

 

[Divi]

Our cruise line requires proof of a negative Covid test 48 hrs before boarding. We plan to get tested as late on Thursday as we can, fly to Ft. Lauderdale Friday morning and embark on Saturday.

Bigger concern right now is the huge rise in cases in the U.S.

[K_e_short]

I ordered the Switch Health Antigen Test online this morning as I am cruising December 26th and there are no places open on Christmas Day.

 

It does not affect anyone's boarding test as already stated it is 2 days.

 

The issue will be those that fly out on holidays will struggle to get a test if they can't do the online test.

 

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, K_e_short said:

I ordered the Switch Health Antigen Test online this morning as I am cruising December 26th and there are no places open on Christmas Day.

 

It does not affect anyone's boarding test as already stated it is 2 days.

 

The issue will be those that fly out on holidays will struggle to get a test if they can't do the online test.

 

 

Do most/all of the airports not offer pre-departure testing? Pearson does, and I was assuming it was available for all international airports. 

 

[Fouremco]

12 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

Do most/all of the airports not offer pre-departure testing? Pearson does, and I was assuming it was available for all international airports. 

 

No, only the major international airports have on-site commercial COVID testing facilities. The Ottawa International Airport, for example, has none. Moreover, those with them don't operate 24/7. For example, the Switch Health clinic at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport  is only open Sunday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so early morning, late afternoon and evening, and all day Saturday travellers are out of luck. Compare that to Pearson's Switch Health hours, 4 a.m. to 11 p.m., 7 days a week.

[rodndonna]

13 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

No, only the major international airports have on-site commercial COVID testing facilities. The Ottawa International Airport, for example, has none. Moreover, those with them don't operate 24/7. For example, the Switch Health clinic at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport  is only open Sunday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so early morning, late afternoon and evening, and all day Saturday travellers are out of luck. Compare that to Pearson's Switch Health hours, 4 a.m. to 11 p.m., 7 days a week.

 

Like everyone ever, I hate flying from Pearson but I guess it has its perks!

 

I wonder with the new rules if the timeframes for testing will adapt. We have a Covid test clinic just opened last week here in Niagara (SrxHealth - walking distance to our place!) that  started as a just Monday-Friday.  I just checked, and starting this Sunday the 5th, they are now booking (and walk-ins) for 7 days a week.

 

[Evilmuffin]

Its not the reduction to 24 hour testing before entry that is concerning me.  Apparently there is also a discussion that the US will require ALL non-citizens arriving to quarantine for 7 days upon their arrival, regardless of their vaccination status.   I read someplace that currently non vaccinated are recommended to quarantine but it’s not mandatory.   If this blanket quarantine is enacted, before my arrival to the US on Saturday, obviously no cruise for me.   Also, if they have this blanket quarantine for all non-citizens coming from international, does that cruise ships?   So many questions, so many unknowns.  Gotta love this stress.  

[K_e_short]

1 hour ago, rodndonna said:

 

Do most/all of the airports not offer pre-departure testing? Pearson does, and I was assuming it was available for all international airports. 

 

 

I'm flying out of Ottawa so don't have that option.

But thank you for mentioning that as those that fly out of those airports that do testing have that option.

 

 

[flyingandcruising]

When they say a day before departure, does that mean we need to get tested the day before? or does it mean within 24 hours of departure? so a rapid test on the day of departure would be ok?

[DHLuCruise]

2 hours ago, Divi said:

Our cruise line requires proof of a negative Covid test 48 hrs before boarding. We plan to get tested as late on Thursday as we can, fly to Ft. Lauderdale Friday morning and embark on Saturday.

Bigger concern right now is the huge rise in cases in the U.S.

Just to make sure we're speaking the same language, is it 48 hours or two days? For Royal (I know you didnt say your cruise line) -- its 2 days.. 

[DHLuCruise]

Just now, flyingandcruising said:

When they say a day before departure, does that mean we need to get tested the day before? or does it mean within 24 hours of departure? so a rapid test on the day of departure would be ok?

 

It is talking about the maximum interval for the test. Are they saying explicitly 24 hours or 1 day? This distinction is important.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Agree about the timeline, 24 hours predeparture is different then a full day before. We depart Pearson at 12:30pm on a Sunday and have our precruise testing booked on the Saturday at 10am…guess I can always switch that to a later appointment on Saturday. 
 

My bigger question is are the US requiring an antigen test as suitable for Celebrity or will they want PCR tests as Canada currently requires? 

[rodndonna]

4 minutes ago, DHLuCruise said:

 

It is talking about the maximum interval for the test. Are they saying explicitly 24 hours or 1 day? This distinction is important.

 

According to news articles (which are not an official source) it is going to be the day before. 24 hours could run into an issue when flights are delayed for departure, so hopefully it is truly "the day before".

 

Really hoping "early next week" for the start is Monday or later as we fly on Sunday and are doing our test Friday (tomorrow). If the start Sunday, we are OK as we can just retest at Pearson but would rather not have to.

[K_e_short]

From what I read last night and this morning:

 

1 - the cruise testing is 2 days, people say 48 hours but every cruise line confirms it's 2 days. CDC says 2 days and thats their rules

 

2 - Great question about the 24 hours.

 

3 - PCR versus antigen - the U.S. does not require PCR for anyone. The 24 hour antigen test is what they currently have in place for un vaccinated passengers. It sounds like they are not making EVERYONE do teh test 24 hours/1 day ahead of time.

 

 

[rodndonna]

Just now, Barwick Cruiser said:

 

My bigger question is are the US requiring an antigen test as suitable for Celebrity or will they want PCR tests as Canada currently requires? 

 

I would have thought they would already be stating if they are moving to PCR. I think it unlikely as they take longer for results, and everyone seems to be moving to shorter duration testing. If anything I would speculate Canada to go with the US and require antigen the day before. 

 

We leave Sunday so watching the news like a hawk now!

[Barwick Cruiser]

1 minute ago, rodndonna said:

 

I would have thought they would already be stating if they are moving to PCR. I think it unlikely as they take longer for results, and everyone seems to be moving to shorter duration testing. If anything I would speculate Canada to go with the US and require antigen the day before. 

 

We leave Sunday so watching the news like a hawk now!

That makes sense but I’m only reading about required testing and nothing specifying PCR vs antigen but didn’t know they’ve only required antigen all along so thank you for that detail! 
 

Good luck, hope everything goes smoothly for you and you enjoy a wonderful cruise!

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Divi said:

Our cruise line requires proof of a negative Covid test 48 hrs before boarding. We plan to get tested as late on Thursday as we can, fly to Ft. Lauderdale Friday morning and embark on Saturday.

Bigger concern right now is the huge rise in cases in the U.S.

 

22 minutes ago, DHLuCruise said:

Just to make sure we're speaking the same language, is it 48 hours or two days? For Royal (I know you didnt say your cruise line) -- its 2 days.. 

It's 2 days, not 48 hours. @Divi is cruising on HAL, where the requirement is "Proof of a negative, medically observed, viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken within 2 days of their embarkation." 

[broberts]

53 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

Like everyone ever, I hate flying from Pearson but I guess it has its perks!

 

 

Don't include me in that count. I've found Pearson no better or worse than most other airports with a similar passenger volume.

[DHLuCruise]

2 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Don't include me in that count. I've found Pearson no better or worse than most other airports with a similar passenger volume.

 

I agree, everyone loves to dump on Pearson but I find it just fine. It has its good day and bad like many other airports.

[Fouremco]

41 minutes ago, Evilmuffin said:

Its not the reduction to 24 hour testing before entry that is concerning me.  Apparently there is also a discussion that the US will require ALL non-citizens arriving to quarantine for 7 days upon their arrival, regardless of their vaccination status.   I read someplace that currently non vaccinated are recommended to quarantine but it’s not mandatory.   If this blanket quarantine is enacted, before my arrival to the US on Saturday, obviously no cruise for me.   Also, if they have this blanket quarantine for all non-citizens coming from international, does that cruise ships?   So many questions, so many unknowns.  Gotta love this stress.  

Speculation is rampant, both in the news media and social media. I'm sure that the US Administration is considering an extensive list of possible options, but "discussion" on some items may last but a minute or two before they are rejected. So many questions and so few answers, which is why I've chosen to sit back and wait for actual decisions being made by the government. 

[Fouremco]

7 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Don't include me in that count. I've found Pearson no better or worse than most other airports with a similar passenger volume.

 

5 minutes ago, DHLuCruise said:

 

I agree, everyone loves to dump on Pearson but I find it just fine. It has its good day and bad like many other airports.

As an airport to start or finish a trip, it's probably very satisfactory, which is why you both feel that way. But for those of us who have to use it for connecting flights, particularly international-to-domestic and vice versa, it's terrible. Which is why more and more Ottawa residents choose to fly through Montreal rather than Toronto, even though flight choices are somewhat meagre in comparison.

[GrannyGear]

Every time I get thinking about booking a Jan cruise, more and more reasons appear to back out. We had friends in NS cancel their TA yesterday because of these restrictions and virus spread. 

[Fouremco]

6 minutes ago, GrannyGear said:

Every time I get thinking about booking a Jan cruise, more and more reasons appear to back out. We had friends in NS cancel their TA yesterday because of these restrictions and virus spread. 

We have a final payment due by the end of the month, and hopefully far more factual information about Omicron and governments' responses will be available by then upon which to make an educated decision.

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

 

As an airport to start or finish a trip, it's probably very satisfactory, which is why you both feel that way. But for those of us who have to use it for connecting flights, particularly international-to-domestic and vice versa, it's terrible. Which is why more and more Ottawa residents choose to fly through Montreal rather than Toronto, even though flight choices are somewhat meagre in comparison.

We have to connect all our flights through Toronto.  Works well for us and have never had an issue.  Yes, crowded..... to be expected.  But system and process works if we leave enough time between flights and we're patient...especially at the Nexus machines.  Haven't travelled in a while (understandably) but is it true they have a new process for nexus users which is quicker and less dependent on finger print recognition?  My finger tips NEVER fit on the pattern, and I hold up the line far longer than some would like...LOL.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, DHLuCruise said:

 

I agree, everyone loves to dump on Pearson but I find it just fine. It has its good day and bad like many other airports.

I don’t mind Pearson generally, but I do find that it takes way longer to get baggage after arrival than in most other airports I fly to. That said, it may be because I have NEXUS and so get out of the customs hall quickly, only to hang around and wait for baggage to arrive.