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Large-Scale SARS-CoV-2 Testing Utilizing Saliva and Transposition Sample Pooling
Published on: June 23, 2022
Estimated Airline Compliance With Predeparture SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Passengers on Flights to the United States,
Leigh Ellyn Preston1, Andre Berro1, Deborah Christensen1
1Leigh Ellyn Preston, DrPH, MPH, and Deborah Christensen, PhD, RN, are Epidemiologists; Andre Berro, MPH, is a Health Scientist; Bukunmi Gesinde, MSPH, EdD, is a Quality Assurance Specialist; Arnold Vang, DrPH, MPH, MSPA, PA, is Deputy Branch Chief; Candice Gilliland, JD, MSFS, Kelly J. Epps, MPH, and James R. Cope, MPH, PhD, are Public Health Advisors; Erin Rothney, MPH, and Matt Palo, CPH, are Regional Officers in Charge; Clive Brown, MBBS, MPH, MSc, DTM&H, FRSPH, FASTMH, is Branch Chief; and Alida M. Gertz, MD, DrPH, MPH, MSc, DTM&H, is a Medical Officer; all at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. Andrew D. Klevos, PhD, MBA, MPH, is a Division Director, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC. Zoe D'Angelo is a Research Assistant, Evidence-Informed State Health Policy Institute, AcademyHealth, Brooklyn, NY. John Olmstead, MPH, and Emma Shearer, MPH, are Epidemiologists, Georgia Department of Public Health, Atlanta, GA; they were Fellows, Applied Epidemiology Fellowship Program, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Atlanta, GA. Bhavna Guduguntla, MD, is an Internal Medicine Resident, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; she was a CDC Epidemiology Elective Student and Medical Student, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI. Josie Decherd, MPH, was a Graduate Student, CDC Student Work Experience Program, Texas A&M University, College Station TX.
Abstract:
In the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented public health measures were designed and implemented to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2. On January 26, 2021, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff began daily audits of documents of arriving passengers at 18 US international ports of entry to ensure documentation of either a negative predeparture antigen or nucleic acid amplification test result for SARS-CoV-2 or recent recovery from COVID-19. This case study briefly describes the results of those audits. The CDC found a very low rate of issues overall. Of the 483,251 passengers selected for audit, 2,142 (0.44%) had issues with their COVID-19 test documentation and 1,182 (0.24%) provided documentation of recovery from COVID-19 rather than a negative test result. The low rate of issues noted during traveler audits indicated airlines were largely compliant with the order. However, the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infections within the United States was high during much of this period, which suggests that implementing a predeparture testing requirement earlier in the pandemic might have had more impact on spread. Digital solutions could reduce the burden of similar interventions in the future on airlines, public health authorities, and other partners.
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