Logistics of Covid test before flying home to USA?

[nini]

I received this from Trip Advisor (CC owns them?). My main concern is the logistics

on getting the Covid test NO MORE than 3 days before boarding the aircraft. So, here I

am disembarking in Barcelona and now I need to stay 3 days and obtain a Covid test!?

NO WHERE does it say that receiving the two vaccines is acceptable.

 

Here is what I received:

Dear traveler,

Are you considering an international trip? If so, read on. The CDC has issued a COVID-19 order that may impact your plans for re-entering the United States.

Effective January 26, 2021 travelers arriving in the U.S. must:

1) Get tested for COVID-19 no more than 3 days before departing to the United States and show a negative test result to the airline before boarding OR 2) show documentation of recent recovery from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding.

This new order applies to all air passengers — including U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents — aged 2 years and older. It also applies regardless of the length of time spent outside of the United States.

Acceptable documentation of recovery from COVID-19 includes both a positive viral test result within 3 months of travel (or the time period specified in current CDC guidance) AND a letter from a healthcare provider or public health official stating that the passenger is cleared to end isolation.

Passengers who have tested positive for COVID-19 will need to delay their travel until they meet the criteria to end isolation; learn more here.

Need more information? Visit this FAQ page at CDC.gov.

[cr8tiv1]

Yes, those are the current mandates.  Any thing can happen between now and then which makes it very difficult to plan ahead.

 

I highly doubt that Princess ships will have an "authorized" lab to perform this pre-travel test on board.  Even if there is a port within 72 hours of disembarkation, I do not suspect them to be a valid lab to process the test.

 

Currently (as of yesterday), Hawaii still requires a pre-COVID travel test to visit the islands.  There is "discussion" that maybe a vaccination may be used in lieu of the travel test.  Talk has it that maybe by April.  Knowing how Hawaii works, I would not expect it to happen before the summer or later.  This "might" be the answer to allowing cruisers to return to Hawaii voyages.

 

I say this without authority.  It is just my opinion from what I have gathered from the news.  I am one of those stuck in limbo with a cruise out of Southampton this summer.  

 

 

[dog]

Canada has just posted stricter travel rules that begin today. I have no plans and won’t worry one bit at this point. A lot can change by summer/ fall 

[Thrak]

I have to wonder how the testing requirement "might" be affected for those who have had two doses of vaccine.

[ceilidh1]

I suspect that these requirements are a means to deter travel. It's meant to be difficult (or impossible) to meet the requirements. Rather than come right out and ban travel, they are making it as tough as possible so that people rethink. At least, that's the take away I am getting....

[pms4104]

3 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I suspect that these requirements are a means to deter travel. It's meant to be difficult (or impossible) to meet the requirements. Rather than come right out and ban travel, they are making it as tough as possible so that people rethink. At least, that's the take away I am getting....

Maybe travelers' home countries don't want anyone bringing in Covid.

[ceilidh1]

2 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

Maybe travelers' home countries don't want anyone bringing in Covid.

Absolutely! Hence the deterrents to travel both into and out of the countries. Should have happened months ago, in my opinion...

[pms4104]

4 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Absolutely! Hence the deterrents to travel both into and out of the countries. Should have happened months ago, in my opinion...

Actually, near a year ago likely would have made a huge difference.

[ceilidh1]

9 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

Actually, near a year ago likely would have made a huge difference.

Agreed!

[dog]

15 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Absolutely! Hence the deterrents to travel both into and out of the countries. Should have happened months ago, in my opinion...

Yes, that is my opinion. The UKvarient is now in a large ng term care home near my neighborhood. Visitors from UK over Christmas shared it with a health care worker. 
too many exemptions have been allowed here and there have been no vaccines in over a week here. 

[kmhkmb]

Being vaccinated won't matter until it is determined whether or not a vaccinated person can still transmit COVID (even though they can't be infected by COVID).  I'm fully vaccinated (I work in a nursing home) but still need to undergo regular surveillance testing - in fact it will soon increase from weekly testing to more frequent testing.  

Edited January 31, 2021 by kmhkmb

[pms4104]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have to wonder how the testing requirement "might" be affected for those who have had two doses of vaccine.

You might take a look at post #11 ... confirms what I have been reading and hearing on the news. 

Edited February 1, 2021 by pms4104

[brisalta]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have to wonder how the testing requirement "might" be affected for those who have had two doses of vaccine.

 

From the CDC link in the original comment:

 

"

What if I have had a COVID-19 vaccine or have tested positive for antibodies? Do I still need a negative COVID-19 test or documentation of recovery from COVID-19?

Yes, at this time all air passengers traveling to the US, regardless of vaccination or antibody status, are required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery.

"

[shel003]

Actually in a recent Bloomberg tv interview with the ceo of Carnival (parent company to Princess) he said that Carnival ships would have onboard covid testing capabilities.  That way if someone had Covid like symptoms, they could test onboard.  Not sure how much testing capability they have but logically they could use this same system to test passengers prior to disembarkation.  Of course this would only help with the airline requirement if no post cruise tour were taking place.

[brisalta]

2 hours ago, shel003 said:

Actually in a recent Bloomberg tv interview with the ceo of Carnival (parent company to Princess) he said that Carnival ships would have onboard covid testing capabilities.  That way if someone had Covid like symptoms, they could test onboard.  Not sure how much testing capability they have but logically they could use this same system to test passengers prior to disembarkation.  Of course this would only help with the airline requirement if no post cruise tour were taking place.

 

The ships will now have PCR testing equipment on board and the correct reagents. The onboard testing facility and staff would also need to have the suitable certification to be considered authorized testing centres.

[mom says]

6 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

The ships will now have PCR testing equipment on board and the correct reagents. The onboard testing facility and staff would also need to have the suitable certification to be considered authorized testing centres.

True. However, does anyone seriously think they would have the capacity to test the entire passenger load in a single day? I highly doubt that would be possible.

[2wheelin]

51 minutes ago, mom says said:

True. However, does anyone seriously think they would have the capacity to test the entire passenger load in a single day? I highly doubt that would be possible.

Only those who wish to fly internationally right after disembarking (at this time) would need the test.

[clo]

6 hours ago, pms4104 said:

Maybe travelers' home countries don't want anyone bringing in Covid.

THIS^^^^^

[caribill]

At this time international tourist travel is essentially non-existent.

 

Cruising will not return until this changes.

 

(Note that the tennis players traveling to Australia recently for a tournament proved how useless the test within 72 hours requirement is. Several of the players who had negative PCR tests before boarding flights to Australia ended up testing positive within a few days of arrival there.)

[HappyInVan]

11 hours ago, nini said:

My main concern is the logistics on getting the Covid test NO MORE than 3 days before boarding the aircraft.

 

Yes, logistics will be a problem. Welcome to the world of covid19.

 

It is galling that humans with their intelligence, science and technology, is being defeated by dumb machines. Virus have no problem solving skills, no memory as we know it. Even an ant is a genius by comparison.

 

But, covid19 has chosen the right host. Hitching a ride with the dumb humans!

 

I hope this explanation helps explain why we are in this situation today?.

 

 

 

 

[SelectSys]

17 hours ago, kmhkmb said:

I'm fully vaccinated (I work in a nursing home) but still need to undergo regular surveillance testing - in fact it will soon increase from weekly testing to more frequent testing.  

 

Thank you for posting this.  People still need to take precautions if we ever want to get back to some semblance of past "normality."  

[Toofarfromthesea]

20 hours ago, nini said:

I received this from Trip Advisor (CC owns them?). My main concern is the logistics

on getting the Covid test NO MORE than 3 days before boarding the aircraft. So, here I

am disembarking in Barcelona and now I need to stay 3 days and obtain a Covid test!?

NO WHERE does it say that receiving the two vaccines is acceptable.

 

It isn't just the logistics.  In a kinder gentler world I would now be in Cancun, enjoying a week at an all-inclusive.  Once the test requirement was issued the all-inclusive stepped up and is providing free tests at the hotel and full free accomodations, sans alcohol, for anyone testing positive for the quarantine.  I still canceled because:

 

a) while I'm retired, some members of our party work and could not afford to get stuck in Mexico for a 14 day quarantine,

b) what if someone tests positive and gets seriously ill - even with a good international travel health insurance policy, you'd still be in a foreign country where you would not know any of your Drs., and nothing about the standard of care - Mexico has an 8.5% covid death rate, 5x the US rate.

So they have managed to make foreign travel far more bureaucratically risky than health risky.  

This restriction served 2 purposes, IMO.  One was to shut down new international travel.  The other was to provide a way for Americans already stuck in countries that have a travel ban a path to be able to get home.

[nini]

I appreciate the comments, This CDC rule is for entry into the USA only.

I am not sure what other countries will come up with.

If the ships can do the testing within 3 days of disembarking, that would be great.

 

Will we forever be tested after having been vaccinated?

[kmhkmb]

3 hours ago, nini said:

I appreciate the comments, This CDC rule is for entry into the USA only.

I am not sure what other countries will come up with.

If the ships can do the testing within 3 days of disembarking, that would be great.

 

Will we forever be tested after having been vaccinated?

Testing will need to continue until the transmissibility question has been answered (whether vaccinated people can still carry the virus and transmit to others even if they are not infected by the virus).   Our best hope is that enough people get vaccinated so that we achieve herd immunity and the virus stops circulating, and even worse, mutating.  I don't think testing will be going away anytime soon - particularly when it comes to travel.  

[Hlitner]

Since we are currently living in Puerto Vallarta and will fly home in March, perhaps I could lend some perspective.  Getting tested here (either PCR or Antigen) is relatively simple and can be arranged with many places via appointment or one could even get a last minute test right at the airport.  Since Mexico seems to be more efficient then many places in the USA (including our own home town) we simply made an appointment for a Fast Antigen test to be administered about 48 hours before our flight (this gives us an extra margin in case our flight would be delayed).  The cost here for such a test is less than $50 and varies depending on where one gets tested.

 

In the unlikely event that one of us would test positive things would become a bit more complicated and mean we would have to stay here for a few extra hours (time to get a PCR test with results) to a few weeks (if one of us actually has an active case of COVID).  Some of the local resorts/hotels (we live in a Condo) have even guaranteed free or low cost accommodations for any guest that would test positive (many of the hotels and resorts are now providing testing for their guests). 

 

Hank