CDC handing out free COVID-19 test kits for international travelers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is handing out free coronavirus tests for international travelers during the holiday season. 

The CDC announced Thursday the initiative began Wednesday in a move to encourage international travelers to test themselves once they enter the country since the U.S. does not require it.

The agency says international travelers should test themselves three to five days after arriving in the U.S. in order to help detect imported coronavirus cases. 

The tests were handed out the week of Dec. 13 in the Minneapolis-St Paul, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare airports. The CDC will add four more airports to the list soon. 

Despite the U.S. not having a requirement for international travelers to take a COVID-19 test once they entered the country, some travel restrictions have been reimposed due to the omicron variant. 

Several southern African countries were banned from travel to the U.S. in November after the omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa. 

The U.S. indicated it won’t lift the ban until more is known about the variant but has not banned travel from other countries that have confirmed cases of the omicron strain. 

The U.S. recently required all international travelers to get a COVID-19 test one day before traveling to the country, tightening the previous rule that said a test was needed within three days before the flight. 

U.S. health officials said they expect the omicron variant to become the dominant variant in the upcoming, highlighting concerns on what that could mean for the health system.