eneq

I hate to be pedantic but the bolded sentences definitely make it sound like ALL travelers (US citizens included) are prohibited from entering the US if they're traveling from the listed places.

Barciur

Thanks. You make a great point - better to be safe. I inquired furhter and LOT said that if the "antigen test is translated into English then it will also be accepted." I have not found a provider in Poland who will do a test with results in English for antigen, but plenty of PCR, so maybe that is why that's written in this way.

runningshoes

The first sentence clearly states that it applies only to non-US citizens (Biden will reimpose a ban on many non-U.S. citizens attempting to enter the country). Having said that, at the rate this is changing, who knows what will happen in a couple of days?

Fonsini

So if I have to take a PCR test for travel to the US that can take 48 hours to get the result back, pretty tight for a 72 hour test validity window, if on the other hand I can take a Rapid Antigen test that only takes one hour to process which makes things a lot easier.

So is a Rapid Antigen test accepted for US bound travel ??

eneq

According to the CDC order, yes. However, airlines may have their own rules. Its best to check with your airline for what they require.

Global Adventurer

Just an FYI about how bad covid19 is spreading in Mexico, now Carlos Slim, the wealthiest person in Mexico and the Mexican president both have covid and they are not young. One day, they will find out all the covid variants are circulating in Mexico. So, good to be tested before flying back to the US.

JNelson113

Just want to confirm, as a US citizen traveling abroad, I am required to have a negative covid test AND to quarantine for 7 days upon return with another covid test 3-5 days after returning?

Is that correct, or am I misinterpreting the directive? Thanks!

Global Adventurer

Somebody else will chime in I'm sure, but there's no quarantine or secondary test required or mandated. It's voluntary. Depending on what city you arrive in.

JNelson113

Thank you, that's great news.

Global Adventurer

Here's individual state by state restrictions:

https://www.kayak.com/travel-restrictions/united-states

Just an update: The Brazilian covid19 virus has been detected in Minnesota now, so I'm sure it's spreading while the land borders in the US are still open requiring no testing.

QT31415

In our experience (weekly testing of asymptomatic patients and testing of all patients who develop any covid symptom) - If a patient is positive but doesn't know it, and a PCR test and rapid antigen test are done on Day 1, the rapid antigen will be negative on Day 1, and the PCR test will be positive but results return on day 3. On day 3 the rapid will almost always be positive also. So results are similar during a certain time frame (exposure between 5-8 days prior) Symptoms usually determine whether a rapid will be positive - for infections with low viral loads and minimal symptoms (either early in infection period or mild infection), those will be negative on a rapid.

tl:dr early PCR tests and day of travel rapid tests have about the same yield if a person is positive at the time of the PCR test.

GUWonder

I would guess that the Brazilian-connected virus detected in Minnesota is most likely connected to Americans flying back to the US after visiting the Mexican beach resorts popular with Americans, Brazilians, Brits and so many others. Testing those air travelers headed to Minnesota may have helped stop what may have been an imported case there, but there is also a chance that it wouldn't have. Thus the CDC recommendation to quarantine after air travel.

That said, my guess was wrong. The detected case was for a traveler to the US from Brazil.

84fiero

It looks like the case in MN came from a Twin Cities resident who had been to Brazil. They were advised to self-isolate after testing positive, but not clear if they had been doing so previously

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/...0-7a43d9865c04

Global Adventurer

The United States, so far according to some scientists, have only tested less than 1% of people infected with coronavirus, to find and sequence the UK, South Africa and the Brazilian variants. Less than 1%. LOL So, there's a lot of variants they haven't found because they haven't been looking for them like the Britains were when they found the one in Kent. As far as quarantine, I doubt if 5% of the US population actually quarantine when they arrive back from vacation. They may distance themselves from family members for awhile, but they definitely ain't quarantining for 10-14 days.

GUWonder

Quarantining for 10-14 days in the US is almost certainly not happening anywhere close to as much as it should.

Testing is one way that may reduce some such non-essential travel and also pick up a little bit of the slack from a lack of quarantining.