**United States Terminates Foreign Quarantine and COVID-19 Regulations**
On December 4, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared that interim final rule (IFR) 0920-AA75, which modified its Foreign Quarantine guidelines during the COVID-19 public health crisis, has lapsed.
In particular, this rule mandated that all incoming international air passengers to the United States must submit contact tracing details within 72 hours before their flight’s departure. This could be accomplished through the booking management system, during online check-in, or at the airport.
Airlines were required to retain this information for a duration of 30 days and provide it to the CDC if requested. As was noted at the time, “the objective of collecting this data is to identify and reach passengers who may have come into contact with someone who has a communicable disease for public health follow-up.”
Nonetheless, with this recent update, this requirement has been lifted. I anticipate that airlines will promptly adjust their systems to eliminate this requirement.
**This Policy Adjustment Appears Reasonable and Overdue**
I’ll openly acknowledge that I’m not particularly fond of the current Department of Health and Human Services. That said, I am pleased to see this rule revised. While it was minor in the grand scheme, it felt like a total waste of time to gather this information, especially considering (collectively) how many tens of millions of individuals were required to provide it without any clear benefit.
Last year, I raised the question of why the collection of this information was still essential. Even at the peak of the pandemic, the United States struggled with effective contact tracing (unlike some other nations). But now, years later, after funding for initiatives like vaccines largely diminished, it seemed even more absurd to request this data.
Sure, it may take just one or two minutes for each person to submit this information. However, when considering the sheer volume of people who had to provide it, that certainly accumulates to a substantial amount of unnecessary time, if you ask me. It just appeared that there was no genuine practical application for this.
**Final Thoughts**
The United States has at last rescinded its contact tracing obligation for international air travel, after the CDC allowed an interim final rule that imposed such a requirement to expire.
While I do recognize the value of contact tracing, it’s not something that the United States managed effectively. Moreover, even as the pandemic became less prevalent in people’s minds, the government continued to demand this data, which felt unjustified. Thus, while this is a small change in the grand scheme of things, it does streamline the process of checking in for flights heading to the US.
**What are your thoughts on the termination of this contact tracing requirement?**