British Airways passengers from UK must test negative for coronavirus before departure to New York

Andrew Cuomo says state coordinating with Delta and Virgin Atlantic on similar restrictions as US faces pressure to combat variant of Covid-19

Passengers travelling from the UK to New York on British Airways must test negative for Covid-19 before departure, effective from 22 December, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The New York governor said officials also are coordinating with Delta and Virgin Atlantic airlines to implement the same rules following the emergence of a recently identified variant of coronavirus linked to several cases in England.

On Sunday, the governor criticised Donald Trump’s administration for failing to implement stronger travel measures as flights have continued from the UK into the US, “and we have done absolutely nothing".

"To me, this is reprehensible because this is what happened in the spring," he said. 

At least 70 flights departing London have landed or are scheduled to land in the US within the past 48 hours, according to flight tracker website Flight Aware.

“How many times in life do you have to make the same mistake before you learn?” Governor Cuomo said on Sunday. "The federal government is being grossly negligent just like the spring, and every day they do nothing on this problem, they do something … It's high time the federal government takes swift action, because today that variant is getting on a plane and landing in [John F Kennedy International Airport ], and all it takes is one person."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that a European-borne variant of coronavirus was widespread in New York weeks before the Trump administration had restricted travel to the US, while the president touted travel restrictions from China.

More than 120 countries have required UK passengers to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test before landing at other airports, while 40 counties have banned UK travellers for the time being.

The disease, which health officials believe has become the dominant variant responsible for 60 per cent of infections reported in London, has also been detected in Belgium, Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands.

“I believe intuitively, it is already here, because if it has been flying around the world, it is already here,” the governor said on Monday. “I say that because I’ve lived this. You’ve lived this. This was the spring.”

The state has reported 6,331 patients who are currently hospitalised for Covid-19, and it has an infection rate of 5.75 per cent, as of 21 December.