Source: Wyatt T NwoReport

The Biden Administration is considering sending all travelers returning to the U.S. into quarantine for seven days to curb the spread of the potentially dangerous omicron variant. There are talks of fining those who refuse, three federal health officials told the Washington Post.

Travelers would not be allowed to forgo the potential quarantine mandate, even with a negative COVID test or full vaccination and booster shot. This comes as Biden deliberates his winter COVID strategy, which he plans to announce Thursday. Any imposition of financial penalties for refusing to comply would mark the first time federal fines are linked to quarantine measures for U.S. travelers.

Biden’s tentative plan would also require everyone entering the country to be tested one day prior to boarding, regardless of their vaccination status or country of origin. Another requirement could force all travelers to get tested again within three to five days of arrival.

Travelers would not be able to forgo the potential quarantine mandate, even with a negative COVID test.

It comes as Biden deliberates his winter COVID strategy, which he plans to announce Thursday, and

would be the first time federal fines are linked to quarantine and testing measures for U.S. travelers.

It is not yet clear when the new policies would take effect, but one of the officials said it could be as soon as next week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proposed the two testing mandates in a draft public health order that is currently being reviewed by Biden and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The quarantine measures are not included in the CDC’s draft, but could be attached later if they gain backing, the anonymous officials told the Washington Post.

The CDC is considering a range of measures to protect Americans against the omicron variant. For example, ‘how to make international travel as safe as possible, including pre-departure testing closer to the time of flight, and considerations around additional post-arrival testing and self-quarantines,’ CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House COVID briefing Tuesday.

She noted that the CDC was expanding

surveillance programs at four major airports to test for COVID from specific international arrivals.

Celine Gounder, a health expert who was part of Biden’s COVID-19 response transition team, advised the administration to put forth stricter measures. ‘If it were up to me, to fly you should be fully vaccinated and we should also be testing 24 hours prior to flight,’ she told the Washington Post.

When news first broke of the spread of the omicron variant, the U.S. and

a number of other countries immediately banned travel from the affected regions of South Africa. Specifically, the U.S. barred travelers coming from any of eight southern African nations in the past 14 days.

Since then, the variant has been detected in at least 19 other countries around the globe. There have been no confirmed cases in the U.S., but experts warn the variant is almost certainly already in the United States.