Houston couple stranded in Mexico after testing positive for COVID-19 on anniversary trip

Beginning in January 2021, the CDC began requiring travelers to have a negative COVID-19 test to return to the country. Now, with vaccines on the rise and COVID-19 cases on the decline, travel companies say people have booked trips to foreign countries again.

But many people are now stranded in other countries after testing positive for the virus, including Houston resident Antonio Delgado, who said he was stranded after he and his wife traveled to Mexico for their anniversary.

According to the CDC, no one is able to fly to the United States unless approved by a doctor or proof of a negative test three days before the trip. In cases like Delgado, travelers were told to isolate themselves for 10 to 14 days in a foreign country.

COVID-19 is already widespread in the United States, with over 22 million cases reported to date. The new measures are designed to try to prevent travelers from bringing in newer forms of the virus that scientists say can spread more easily.

The CDC order applies to both US citizens and foreign travelers. International travel to the United States has already been decimated by pandemic restrictions imposed in March last year, which banned most foreigners from Europe and elsewhere. Foreign travel to the United States and Americans to international destinations in December 2020 fell by 76% from a year earlier, according to Airlines for America.

Airlines are ordered to stop boarding passengers if they do not have negative evidence.

“Testing does not eliminate all risks,” CDC Director Robert R. Redfield said in a statement. “But combined with a period of stay at home and daily precautions, such as wearing masks and social distance, can make travel safer, healthier and more responsible, reducing the spread on airplanes, airports and destinations.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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