CDC Global Airline Testing Order DOES NOT apply for travel to/return to mainland from Puerto Rico, the USVI, etc.

[Aviator of the Seas]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recently issued Global Airline Testing Order DOES NOT apply to return flights from Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

 

Specifically, in its definitions, the order states: Foreign Country means anywhere that is not a state, territory, or possession of the United States

 

As of January 15, 2021, Puerto Rico has the 8th LOWEST death rate per million inhabitants in the United States.

 

Do note that Puerto Rico requires a negative Covid test for inbound travelers to avoid a self-quarantine. You may take your test within 72 hours of travel to the islands, or procure an on-island test once you arrive.  But you don't need to bother with getting retested to fly back home. This state of affairs cannot change on a whim, so you don't have to worry about getting stuck on the islands if anyone changes their minds. They can't since Puerto Rico travel is treated as interstate travel:

 

The Jones Act of 1917: Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship by the Jones–Shafroth Act in 1917; subsequently, the U.S. Congress passed a law (signed by President Truman in 1947) which expressly extended this constitutional clause (U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1: “The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States”) to the U.S. citizens in the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico:

 

The rights, privileges, and immunities of citizens of the United States shall be respected in Puerto Rico to the same extent as though Puerto Rico were a State of the Union and subject to the provisions of paragraph 1 of section 2 of article IV of the Constitution of the United States.

 

You can find the full extent of the order here:

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/global-airline-testing-order_2021-01-2_R3-signed-encrypted-p.pdf