US: White House works to move stalled airline contact tracing plan, sources say

The White House wants a plan in place by Sept. 1 for airlines to collect contact tracing information from US-bound international passengers, but will not immediately implement a CDC proposal, three people briefed on the matter said Wednesday. The Trump administration convened a high-level White House meeting on Tuesday that included Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and other senior officials. The White House tasked a interagency working group with adopting an interim solution by June 30 and ahead of any potential coronavirus second wave. A debate over how data should be collected from passengers in order to quickly identify and contact people exposed to the coronavirus has dragged on for months without resolution. In February, the CDC issued an internal final rule that aimed to require airlines to collect five contact data elements from international passengers and electronically submit them to Customs and Border Protection to facilitate contact tracing. That has not been enforced. Airlines strongly protested, saying it was unworkable. They argued they could not provide such information, especially from passengers booking tickets through third-party websites. If no workable plan is identified, the administration will likely move ahead with the existing CDC plan, sources said.<br/>