Quarantine for travelers recognized as an ineffective measure?
Airlines and airports have called on the governments of Europe and the UK to lift the quarantine for air passengers.
Official recommendations from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) confirm its ineffectiveness.
The recommendations unequivocally reject quarantine measures in the current epidemiological situation, where the virus has spread widely and is actively transmitted.
Air passengers account for less than 1% of all COVID-19 cases, according to the latest data, and this does not increase the spread of the virus.
Olivier Jankovec, Director of the Association of Airport Operators ACI EUROPE: “...the measure has nothing to do with what is really necessary to protect public health ... no equivalent measures are applied at land borders.” The measures now being implemented have resulted in unprecedented restrictions on freedom of movement and the freedom to provide services. We call on national governments to immediately lift quarantine restrictions and restore freedom of movement for European citizens.
A more coordinated approach between the EU, EEA and the UK is needed to restore the passenger and tourist sector.
The EASA and ECDC guidelines view 14-day quarantine as effective only in an "exceptional situation" where a country has achieved full control of the virus and reduced its transmission rate. Only then is quarantine justified for travelers arriving from countries where the virus continues to circulate.
Experts believe that rapid testing at borders can be effective.
Rafael Schwarzman, International Civil Aviation Association (IATA) Regional Vice President for Europe, said: Express testing of passengers on COVID-19 opens the door to the resumption of air travel by lifting quarantine. And people agree with that.”
Source: atorus