After the recent emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Directive in accordance with CDC’s Contact Information Collection Order (Order) requiring the transmission of contact information for passengers who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, or Zimbabwe. The CDC will provide the passengers’ contact information to jurisdictional state and local public health partners for public health follow-up. The Directive requires aircraft operators and airlines that are not currently transmitting the designated information for passengers via established DHS systems to transmit the designated information within 24 hours following each such flight’s arrival into the United States for all such passengers aboard.
If your operation has already arranged to provide data to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or CDC (see technical instructions for CDC’s Contact Information Collection Order):
- Please continue sending data via the established channels.
- However, please make additional efforts to obtain reliable data, especially accurate addresses (including a U.S. state) and primary phone number.
If your operation has NOT arranged to provide data to DHS or CDC:
- Please email eocgmtftasksuprt@cdc.gov by December 1, 2021, at 1400 EST to establish a secure transmission method. There are interim solutions available to ensure data from these passengers is provided in a timely and secure manner.
This CDC Directive comes after the Proclamation issued by President Biden on November 26, 2021, that took effect on November 29, 2021. The Proclamation suspends the entry into the United States for immigrants, nonimmigrants, and noncitizens who were physically in the above-mentioned countries in the 14 days prior to entering or attempting to enter the United States.
The Directive is effective November 30, 2021 and will remain in effect until rescinded or modified by CDC. As always, NATA will continue to keep you informed of further developments. Follow our social media channels to learn more.
If you have any questions, please contact NATA at covid@nata.aero.