The U.S. is requiring airline passengers arriving from the U.K. to provide negative coronavirus tests before boarding their flights, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said late Thursday night.
Under the new order, passengers arriving from the U.K. must test negative no more than 72 hours before their departures.
Passengers must provide written documentation of their test results to the airline and the airline must confirm the negative test results for all passengers. If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger, the CDC said.
The order will be signed Friday and go into effect Monday, according to the agency.
The ramped-up measure comes after public health authorities in the U.K announced the discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus that may be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the initial strain.
Since the new variant was discovered, roughly 40 countries have imposed travel bans on Great Britain, The Associated Press noted.