United States has announced new testing guidelines for international passengers as the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe. President Joe Biden announced the new rules hours after the first-known US case of community transmission of Omicron was reported. Starting December 6, the US will require inbound international passengers to be tested for COVID-19 within one day of departure, regardless of vaccination status.
“This tighter testing timeline provides an added degree of protection as scientists continue to study the Omicron variant,” Biden said in a tweet.Six US states confirmed infections of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 on Friday. New Jersey, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Utah each reported their first cases of the Omicron variant on Friday. Missouri was awaiting CDC confirmation of a case involving a St. Louis resident who had recently travelled within the United States. New York announced three more cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus on December 4, bringing the number of state cases linked to the new variant to eight.“The Omicron variant is here, and as anticipated we are seeing the beginning of community spread,” state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said in a news release. Less than 60 percent of the US population, or 196 million people, have been fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates among wealthy nations.US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Reuters Next conference that the variant could slow global economic growth by exacerbating supply chain problems and depressing demand.