WHO and WTTC Urge Global Shift Away from Travel Controls

By Milan Korcok

Despite relentless spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTM) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are urging governments worldwide to keep their borders open and focus instead on basic public health measures, i.e., encouraging broader use of vaccines and masks.

 In addition, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments to rescind travel bans that have been imposed due to the Omicron variant and find alternative ways to deter this viral spread citing European Centre for Disease Prevention data which shows that the cases detected recently in EU member states have been spread within the EU/EEA, rather than through cross-border travel.

 According to a statement issued by the WHO: “Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread, and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods. In addition, they can adversely impact global health efforts during a pandemic by disincentivizing countries to report and share epidemiological and sequencing data.”

 In a separate statement, IATA Director General Willie Walsh noted that: “After nearly two years with Coronavirus, we know a lot about the virus and the inability of travel restrictions to control its spread. But the discovery of the Omicron variant induced instant amnesia on governments which implemented knee-jerk restrictions in complete contravention of advice from the WHO.”

 Julia Simpson, WTTC President also emphasized that continuing vaccination rollouts is more effective than categorizing all countries in red lists…(and) “Until we fully understand this new variant, we must focus on prioritising the world distribution of vaccines while adopting sensible measures such as wearing masks.”

Milan Korcok is a national award wining medical writer who has been covering international medical and travel health issues for leading professionals journal in the United States, Canada, and the UK for many years. He works and resides in Florida.