U.S. to lift COVID test requirement for international air travel: report

Looks like another departure for an American pandemic rule.

The U.S. will lift a requirement that international travelers flying into the U.S. receive coronavirus tests within a day before lift off, CNN reported Friday, a pandemic landmark reached after global COVID case tallies fell sharply this spring.

The requirement is expected to end at midnight Sunday, CNN reported, citing an unnamed Biden administration official.

The White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which ordered the current mandate for travelers 2 or older in December, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday morning.

CNN reported that the White House official said that science and data guided the determination from the CDC, which was lobbied heavily by the airline industry.

Robert Isom, chief executive of American Airlines, said at a conference this month that the rule was “nonsensical” and “damaging” to U.S. travel, according to The Wall Street Journal.