COUNTRIES and regions are being advised by the World Health Organisation to lift or ease travel bans, saying the spread of Omicron shows the ineffectiveness of restrictions and how they place a “heavy burden on lives and livelihoods”.
The agency said in a statement that travel bans “do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress” felt across national and local economies.
“The failure of travel restrictions introduced after the detection and reporting of Omicron variant to limit international spread of Omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time,” the World Health Organisation said in its latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic.
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It said travel measures such as mask wearing, testing, isolation or quarantine, and vaccination should be based on risk assessment and should avoid placing the financial burden on international travellers in accordance with Article 40 of the IHR (International Health Regulations).
Some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions on international travel are in place across China, including Hong Kong, where officials are pursuing a stated aim of “zero-Covid” as they combat the virus.
Other countries such as Singapore are implementing a phased reopening based on safety measures that also allow the gradual restarting of large business events. The United Kingdom is planning to drop nearly all Covid restrictions while Australia has lifted quarantine rules for vaccinated travellers.
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“Lift or ease international traffic bans as they do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress experienced by States Parties,” the WHO statement said.
Hong Kong’s tourism industry has been assured of financial aid as the government focuses on reopening border crossings with mainland China. Plans for this have been put on hold following a wave of Omicron and a surge of other Covid cases forcing renewed lockdowns.
Business events industry leaders have spoken out against continuing restrictions on international travel including quarantine of up to 21 days even for fully vaccinated and Covid-negative arrivals.
Hong Kong’s strict quarantine rules follow efforts to form a travel bubble with Singapore and other Asian destinations being abandoned by officials in favour of reopening the mainland China border crossings with priority given to key business travellers.
