12/3/21 - Tightened Travel Restrictions Over The Winter

New travel guidelines will mean extending mask wearing and a negative test for international travelers.

-President Joe Biden outlined new federal initiatives to combat the coronavirus pandemic Thursday.

He continued to encourage booster shots and that will be made easier by opening hundreds of family vaccination clinics and making at-home testing kits free.

The President spoke at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on Thursday afternoon.  He said it was important to take extra safety measures during the winter months.

While federal employees are already given paid time off to get booster shots, Biden called on employers across the country to do the same if they don’t already.

The White House will expand access to free at-home Covid testing, allowing for the more than 150 million Americans with private insurance to have the tests reimbursed by their providers and distributing at-home tests to those without private insurance through “key community sites.”

For those traveling, they plan to “tighten” pre-departure testing protocols beginning next week for all inbound travelers regardless of nationality or vaccination status, requiring them to take a Covid test within one day of departure instead of three, as per current rules.

Masking up will be mandated on planes, trains and public transportation through at least March 18.