Do I need a negative COVID 72 hours before departure starting from sample collection or result issuance?

Do I need a negative COVID 72 hours before departure starting from sample collection or result issuance? - Set of blood test vials arranged on pink table

It takes 24 hours at least to get the COVID results. If I take the PCR test on Monday at 8AM, and get a negative result on Tuesday at 8AM, can I board a flight that departs on Friday at 8AM?

From Tuesday 8AM to Friday 8AM, exactly 72 hours.

However from Monday 8AM to Friday 8AM, it’s 86 hours.

So when does the clock start? From the time they took my sample nose swab? Or from the time they gave me the negative result?



Best Answer

For travel TO the US you can find the detailed rules here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/covid-19_testing_required_US_Entry.html

The sample must be taken 3 calendar days (NOT 72 hours) before departure. Departure is in most (but not all) cases the first leg of your flight. Example: if you are flying from Munich to Frankfurt to New York (on a single ticket with normal layovers) the "departure day" is determined by the time your flight from Munich is scheduled to depart.

So if you first leg departs Friday, the earliest you can a test is any time on Tuesday. It doesn't matter what time on Tuesday you take the test or what time on Friday your flight departs. Flights departing at 23:55 are great, flights departing at 00:10 not so much.

Things get a little more complicated if you take your test in a different time zone than your departure airport.

For travel FROM the US, the rules of the destination country and potentially the transit countries apply. These vary all over the place, so there is no single answer.




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Do I need a negative COVID 72 hours before departure starting from sample collection or result issuance? - From above composition with medical syringes of different sizes arranged with test tubes filled with blood samples placed on yellow surface
Do I need a negative COVID 72 hours before departure starting from sample collection or result issuance? - 
A Close-Up Shot of a Blood Sample in a Test Tube
Do I need a negative COVID 72 hours before departure starting from sample collection or result issuance? - From above of medical syringe with medication near injector with blood sample arranged with filled clinical test tubes placed on yellow background





🔴TRAVEL UPDATE: UNDERSTANDING THE 72-HOUR WINDOW ON THE MANDATORY RT-PCR TEST - WHEN TO DO IT?




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Answer 2

In the case of the US, according to the CDC:

  • the relevant time is that of the test, not of the result
  • the limit is 3 days calendar days before your flight, not 72 hours

So for a departure any time on Friday, you must take the test on Tuesday (at any time) or later.

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Alena Shekhovtcova, Karolina Grabowska, Maksim Goncharenok, Karolina Grabowska