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TeaThe true nature of international travel in the COVID era was broadcast live across the world last weekend. On the field, in the opening minutes of a football match between Brazil and Argentina in Sao Paulo, when public-health officials rushed to remove several Argentine athletes over apparent violations of a 14-day quarantine (mandatory for travel) Get down UK). The game never started again.
Eighteen months into the pandemic, travel restrictions are still plaguing not only regular families and firms, but footballers as well. A US ban on most travelers from two dozen European countries, instituted by Donald Trump in March last year, remains in place despite the change of president and the fact that high proportions of people in the EU and UK are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents returning home from places including the US and France will have to spend 21 days in hotel quarantine, even if they have been vaccinated, and most others in the city are barred from entry. Australia’s borders are closed, with most international travel banned.
Obviously, there is a need to be careful around the Delta variant. But the lack of practicality around international travel is striking. Although many governments have eased restrictions on movement at home, travel restrictions seem to be in cement since recognizing evidence that vaccines protect against severe forms of COVID-19.
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A July report by the World Tourism Organization found that there had been no “significant” change in restrictions since November 2020. For every good news – Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates have recently eased travel restrictions – there is a snap-back, such as the EU reimposing restrictions on US travelers after summer relief.
This deserves immediate attention. There are emotional and economic costs to restricting travel. The most visible is the tourism industry, which suffered the worst year on record in 2020 – losses this year could reach $2.4 trillion, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Less visible are all lives and careers that have been put on hold until travel resumes, from full-time workers and seasonal workers to international students with great future potential. A chief executive recently stepped down after growing tired of transatlantic travel restrictions.
The benefits, meanwhile, are hard to spot. Consider the treatment of travelers from France who are not allowed to enter the US and who had to be quarantined on recent arrival in the UK, even if they had been vaccinated. Today he has to book the Kovid test even after two days of arrival.
To what extent? The US and UK are currently reporting around 500 new cases per million people per day, almost double that of France. Paris is considered the most open city out of 40 destinations tracked by Bloomberg. Even New Zealand, with its high border controls and thousands of miles from anywhere, recognizes that even with vaccines, infections will rise when its borders reopen due to delta-like variants.
An alternative to travel restrictions and ineffective regulations would be to better differentiate between vaccinated and non-vaccinated. According to the World Tourism Organization, as of June, only 17% of all travel destinations around the world specifically mention vaccinated travelers in their travel policy. Research by airline lobby group IATA also found that two-fifths of EU states are not allowing vaccinated passengers from countries deemed safe outside the bloc.
For all the warnings on vaccine transmission and declining effectiveness, there should be greater openness to vaccination. Of course, this would mean that wealthier countries need to do more to expand the supply and production of vaccines in developing countries. Otherwise those without access will be punished unfairly.
The World Health Organization should also harmonize competing definitions of “complete vaccination” to reduce confusion as countries roll out booster shots and third doses. Broadly speaking, politicians should start talking about travel, not just as a risk. It is perhaps appropriate to refrain from granting vacationers a license to spread disease; Vaccinated families, students and workers do not have a chance to return to normal.
No easing of restrictions is risk-free. But this has to be balanced against the progress made so far in the management of COVID and the benefits of improving mobility. At this stage of the pandemic, with the tools available to us, a change is worth it.—bloomberg
Read also: Covid-19 pandemic – Vietnamese man jailed for spreading ‘virus’, Hong Kong eases travel rules
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