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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 17 / Thursday, January 28, 2021 / Notices 5 the test result states POSITIVE, SARSCoV2 RNA DETECTED, SARS
CoV2 ANTIGEN DETECTED, or COVID
19 DETECTED. A test marked invalid is not acceptable.

Foreign country means anywhere that is not a state, territory, or possession of the United States.
Negative Pre-departure Test Result for COVID19 or negative Qualifying Test result means documentation of a negative COVID19 test taken within the 3 days preceding a flights departure. Such documentation may be in paper or electronic format as required by this Order. Testing must be performed using a viral test. The documentation must also include sufficient verification information such as the name and contact information for the laboratory or healthcare personnel who performed the test.
Viral test means a viral detection test for current infection i.e., a nucleic acid amplification test or a viral antigen test approved or authorized by the relevant national authority for the detection of SARSCoV2.
United States has the same meaning as State and U.S. Territory in 42
CFR 71.1b.
Exemptions The following categories of individuals and organizations are exempt from the requirements of this Order:
Crew members of airlines or other aircraft operators provided that they follow industry standard protocols for the prevention of COVID19 as set forth in relevant Safety Alerts for Operators SAFOs issued by the Federal Aviation Administration FAA.5
Airlines or other aircraft operators transporting passengers with COVID19
pursuant to CDC authorization and in accordance with CDC guidance.6
Federal law enforcement personnel on official orders who are traveling for the purpose of carrying out a law enforcement function, provided they are covered under an occupational health and safety program in accordance with CDC guidance. Those traveling for training or other business purposes remain subject to the requirements of this Order.
5 https www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_
industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/safo/all_
safos/media/2020/SAFO20009.pdf. Airlines, aircraft operators, and their crew members may follow even stricter protocols for safety, including testing protocols.
6 Interim Guidance for Transporting or Arranging Transportation by Air into, from, or within the United States of People with COVID19 or COVID
19 Exposure available at https www.cdc.gov/
quarantine/interim-guidance-transporting.html.

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U.S. Department of Defense DOD
personnel, including military personnel and civilian employees, dependents, contractors including whole aircraft charter operators, and other U.S.
government employees when traveling on DOD assets, provided that such individuals are under competent military or U.S. government travel orders and observing DOD precautions to prevent the transmission of COVID
19 as set forth in Force Protection Guidance Supplement 14Department of Defense Guidance for Personnel Traveling During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic December 29, 2020 including its testing guidance.
Individuals and organizations for which the issuance of a humanitarian exemption is necessary based on both 1 exigent circumstances where emergency travel is required to preserve health and safety e.g., emergency medical evacuations and 2 where predeparture testing cannot be accessed or completed before travel. Additional conditions may be placed on those granted such exemptions, including but not limited to, observing precautions during travel, providing consent to postarrival testing, and/or self-quarantine after arrival in the United States, as may be directed by federal, state, territorial, tribal or local public health authorities to reduce the risk of transmission or spread.
Background The COVID19 pandemic has spread throughout the world. Individuals who travel may be at risk for exposure to SARSCoV2 before, during, and after travel. This could result in U.S.-bound travelers further spreading the virus to others during travel, upon arrival in the United States, and at their destinations.
Over the last few weeks, the United Kingdom UK has faced a rapid increase in COVID19 cases in South East England, leading to enhanced epidemiological and virological investigations. On December 14, 2020, Public Health England announced that a new variant of SARSCoV2 had been identified across the southeast of England.7 Preliminary analysis in the UK suggests that this SARSCoV2
variant may be more transmissible than previously circulating variants, with an estimated potential to increase the reproductive number R0 by 0.40.7 or greater with an estimated increased transmissibility of up to 70 percent.8
7 https www.gov.uk/government/news/pheinvestigating-a-novel-variant-of-covid-19.
8 https www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publicationsdata/threat-assessment-brief-rapid-increase-sarscov-2-variant-united-kingdom.

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On December 19, 2020, in response to the emergence of the UK variant, the countries comprising the UK announced stricter measures to be applied from December 20 and over the coming weeks, with affected areas entering a Tier 4 level with movement restrictions within and between more and less heavily affected areas. These measures have included recommendations for residents of the most affected areas to restrict movements and travel, including international travel, outside of these areas. The government of Scotland announced a travel ban between Scotland and the rest of the UK. In addition, the Netherlands issued a travel ban from the UK effective through January 1, 2021, and Belgium temporarily halted flight and train travel from the UK. Other countries took similar measures to restrict travel from the UK.
A second new variant of SARSCoV
2 was reported in the Republic of South Africa RSA on December 18, 2020, that also appears to spread more rapidly than earlier variants of the virus. The RSA variant is distinct from the UK
variant but shares a mutation in the spike protein that appears to increase transmissibility. Since being identified, the new variant has spread inland from coastal regions of RSA and has become the predominant variant in some areas of the country.
During December 2126, 2020, several countries implemented restrictions on travel from South Africa, including China, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Panama, Sudan, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK. The Netherlands imposed a ban on travel from RSA on December 21 but lifted the ban for both the UK and RSA on December 23, stating that travelers will instead need to present a negative COVID19 test result obtained within 72
hours of their scheduled arrival in the Netherlands, followed by 10 days of self-quarantine. On December 28, Japan imposed a ban on entry of all foreign nationals through the end of January 2021. On December 28, the Government of South Africa announced new restrictions on businesses and public movement. As of January 7, 2021, Canada requires air passengers 5 years of age or older to test negative for COVID19 before arrival. On January 8, the United Kingdom announced a predeparture testing requirement for all inbound international travelers with limited exceptions; a 10-day post-arrival quarantine will still be required.
On December 25, 2020, CDC issued an Order requiring proof of a negative Qualifying Test result for all airline
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