Airlines may request passengers prove coronavirus status
Kurt 'The CyberGuy' Knutsson discusses on ‘Fox and Friends Weekend’ traveling amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.
The CEO of Delta Air Lines has criticized a possible coronavirus testing requirement for domestic travel, after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned an "active conversation" with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
In an interview published Monday with the Associated Press, Delta CEO Ed Bastian pushed back against the notion of testing people before flights in the U.S., citing already-weak demand and limited capacities for testing for medical purposes.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian has pushed back against the notion of testing people before flights in the U.S. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
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"I don't anticipate that is coming. I certainly hope not," Bastian said when asked about his thoughts on the CDC considering such a mandate. "The level of travel that we are carrying domestically in the U.S. — not just Delta, but across the industry — would be substantially reduced from today’s already low levels if domestic testing was required. And we don’t have the facility or the technology or capabilities to be administering or monitoring domestic testing."
While the outlet described the executive as "dead-set" against such a requirement for within the country, Bastian fully supports COVID-19 testing for international travelers entering the U.S.
"Testing is the key to opening up international markets and borders, so I welcome the testing that the [CDC] is asking for [a negative test before travelers enter the U.S]. Testing is going to be an important step to reestablishing consumer confidence, and as that confidence builds, I think you can see those [border] restrictions come down," he explained.
In January, the CDC announced that negative tests will be required of passengers on all international flights to the U.S., following news of more infectious strains from abroad.
On Sunday, Secretary Buttigieg revealed there was an "active conversation" happening with the CDC on mandating testing for domestic flights in the fight against COVID-19. (Stefani Reynolds/Pool via AP)
On Sunday, Secretary Buttigieg revealed there was active discussion with the CDC on mandating testing for domestic flights in the fight against COVID-19.
"There's an active conversation with the CDC right now," Buttigieg told Axios. "What I can tell you is, it's going to be guided by data, by science, by medicine, and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out."
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He elaborated on the comment the next day, acknowledging that travel industry groups — who largely oppose the COVID-19 testing requirement — had raised "valid points" in arguing such a mandate could eliminate already-limited testing for vulnerable communities, and COVID-19 could be almost as easily spread as traveling by car.
When CDC chief Dr. Rochelle Walensky was questioned about the transportation secretary’s remarks during a Monday press briefing with the White House COVID-19 Response Team, she said the agency was considering the proposal as a possible added safety measure to stop the spread of the viral disease.
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"The more screening we’re doing in places where people are gathering, I think the more asymptomatic disease we will detect ... there’s more gathering that happens in airports and to the extent that we have available tests, to be able to do testing," Walensky told reporters.
"First and foremost I would really encourage people to not travel but if we are traveling, this would be yet another mitigation manner to try to decrease the spread."
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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