Travel bans are not the answer to check the spread of COVID-19, instead governments must devise a co-ordinated system for testing of passengers, global airline's body, IATA, said in response to travel bans imposed on the United Kingdom by several countries.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing nearly 290 airlines or 82% of total air traffic.
“This latest situation once again reinforces the urgent need for coordinated recognition of systematic testing of travellers. Governments must cooperate to put mutually recognized testing capacity in place so that borders can remain open to the vast majority of healthy passengers,” Rafael Schvartzman, IATA's Regional VP - Europe told The Hindu.
“COVID-19 is likely to be with us for some time, so rather than travel bans, governments must adopt more flexible and practical policies to manage the risks in a way that enables people to safely work and travel. ‘Test, test and test again’ has been the mantra of the WHO [World Health Organisation] for almost a year now, and we implore governments to act on this advice,” the spokesperson said.
