The Citizen e-edition

Biden plans big clamp on Covid

VARIANT: NEW TESTING REQUIREMENTS FOR TRAVELLERS

Washington

‘In this country, it’s become a political issue. A sad commentary.’

US President Joe Biden announced a winter campaign against Covid, with new testing requirements for travellers and a surge in vaccination efforts as the new omicron variant threatens to revive the pandemic.

Biden has brought steady leadership after the chaotic Donald Trump years, but the mutating coronavirus continues to defy him, helping drive his approval ratings deep underwater.

Urging the nation – in particular his political rivals – to unite behind the strategy, Biden unveiled a raft of actions designed to tamp down Covid in the coming months, as omicron spreads worldwide.

“It’s a plan that I think should unite us,” Biden said, speaking from the headquarters of the National Institutes of Health in a Washington suburb.

“I know Covid has been very divisive. In this country, it’s become a political issue,” he added. “A sad, sad commentary. It shouldn’t be, but it has been.”

Biden’s updated actions include the requirement that all inbound international travellers be tested within one day of flying.

This will apply to all travellers, both American and foreign, regardless of vaccination status, a US official said.

For domestic travellers, Biden will announce he is extending a mask mandate on airplanes, trains and other public transport through mid-March.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said testing and vaccine requirements could eventually be added to domestic flights too. “Nothing is off the table,” she said.

The barrage of measures is partly meant to reassure Americans that Biden is doing everything possible to prevent the pandemic from derailing the US economic recovery.

WORLD

en-za

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://thecitizen.pressreader.com/article/281938841200472

The Citizen