Starting Thursday, January 5, travelers to the U.S. from China, Hong Kong, and Macao will be required to present proof of a negative Covid-19 test to their airline before boarding. The U.S. joins more than a dozen countries worldwide that have imposed new entry restrictions on Chinese travelers citing concerns over a surge in Covid cases in those areas.
That targeted Covid-testing approach, which the U.S. Travel Association describes as “reasonable and appreciated,” doesn’t come soon enough for the Consumer Technology Association, which opens its CES trade show in Las Vegas on January 5.
As a result, organizers have announced that CES exhibitors and attendees arriving from China, Hong Kong, or Macao between January 1 and 4 must present a negative Covid test in order to pick up their badges for the January 5-8 show. Both PCR and rapid antigen tests will be accepted but must be administered by a U.S. or Canadian healthcare provider, and results must document the traveler’s full name and the date of the test.
According the show’s Covid policy FAQ page on the CES website, free Covid-19 antigen tests will be available at the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South Hall.
Exhibitors and attendees from China, Hong Kong, and Macao who traveled to the U.S. before January 1 do not have any Covid testing restrictions. For those arriving on or after January 5, only proof of arrival date—travel documents and stamped passports—will be required.
The show is expected to attract about 100,000 people. That number is well above the 45,000 attendance figure in 2022 but still below the nearly 170,000 attendees who came to Las Vegas for CES in 2020.
