1 US to Require Negative Covid Tests for Travelers Arriving From China
The United States will require all travelers from China to show a negative Covid-19 test result before flying to the country as Beijing’s rapid easing of Covid-19 restrictions leads to a surge in cases. Passengers flying to the US from China will need to get a test no more than two days before flying, federal health officials said, and present proof of the negative test to their airline before boarding. The tests can be either a PCR test or an antigen self-test administered through a telehealth service. The requirement will apply both to passengers flying directly to the United States from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, as well to passengers flying through popular third-country gateways, including Seoul, Toronto and Vancouver. Passengers who test positive more than 10 days before their flight can provide documentation of their recovery in lieu of a negative test result. The new rules take effect at 11:01 p.m. on January 5.
2 Southwest Airlines Flight Cancellations Continue to Snowball
Travelers who counted on Southwest Airlines to get them home suffered another wave of canceled flights Wednesday, and pressure grew on the federal government to help customers get reimbursed for unexpected expenses they incurred because of the airline’s meltdown. Exhausted Southwest travelers tried finding seats on other airlines or renting cars to get to their destination, but many remained stranded. The airline’s CEO said it could be next week before the flight schedule returns to normal. Adontis Barber, a 34-year-old jazz pianist from Kansas City, Missouri, had camped out in the city’s airport since his Southwest flight was canceled Saturday, hoping to reach a New Year’s gig in Washington, D.C. He left his airport vigil Wednesday. “I give up,” he said. “I’m starting to feel homeless.” By early afternoon on the East Coast, about 90% of all canceled flights Wednesday in the U.S. were on Southwest, according to the FlightAware tracking service.
3 Winter Storm Death Toll Rises to 37 in Buffalo
The winter storm death toll has risen to 37 in Erie County, New York, as crews continue to clear roads and first responders check on people they couldn’t reach days ago when the catastrophic weather system swept the nation, officials there said Wednesday. At least 25 others across 11 US states also have been reported dead in the storm, which buried the city of Buffalo in nearly 52 inches of snow, trapping residents in western New York at home – many without heat as the Christmas weekend blizzard took out power lines. “It’s a horrible storm with too many deaths,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference as he praised first responders, without whom “more people would have died.” Now, authorities are going door-to-door to conduct wellness checks, Poloncarz said: An EMS task force is checking locations of emergency calls that authorities could not reach during the storm, while the National Guard will spend the next couple days checking every house in neighborhoods that lost power. “We are fearful that there are individuals who may have perished living alone or people who were not doing well in an establishment, especially those that still don’t have power,”