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EU Council Recommends Considering Traveler's Status. WHO Doubts Omicron Will End the Pandemic

26 January 2022, 14:00

Ideal conditions have now formed for other variants of the virus to emerge.

The Council of the European Union has approved revised travel recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic, which are now based on the "individual situation" of travelers and are not tied to their region of origin.

The recommendation will take effect on February 1. It was adopted taking into account a significant increase in vaccination coverage in EU countries and the use of the digital COVID certificate.

Under the new recommendation, coronavirus-related requirements should take into account the status of the traveler, rather than the situation in the region, except for territories where the disease spread is very high.

"This means that a certificate of coronavirus vaccination, a test result or past illness, certified by the European digital COVID certificate, should be the key factor. The individual approach will significantly simplify the current rules and give travelers more clarity and certainty," the statement says.

According to the recommendations, travelers who hold a valid digital certificate should not be subject to additional restrictions on freedom of movement. This refers to:

A certificate of full coronavirus vaccination, provided that more than 14 and no more than 270 days have passed since the last dose of the full course, or if the person has received a booster dose after that. Member states may, at their discretion, recognize vaccines not only approved in the EU but also others approved by national authorities or the WHO.
A certificate of a negative PCR test obtained no more than 72 hours before travel, or an antigen test obtained no more than 24 hours before travel.
A certificate of recovery, provided that no more than 180 days have passed since the date of the positive test.

Travelers who cannot provide such a certificate may be required to take a test before travel or no later than 24 hours after arrival, except for exemptions, including children under 12 years old.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is asked to further publish "traffic light" maps showing the coronavirus situation, taking into account the incidence over the past two weeks, vaccination coverage and testing volumes.

The recommendation states: "Based on these maps, member states should apply measures to travel to and from "dark red zones", where virus spread is very significant. In particular, they should warn against non-essential travel and require people returning from these zones who are not vaccinated or do not have a certificate of recent recovery to take a test before departure and self-isolate upon arrival."

Exceptions to this rule will be provided for certain categories of travelers (those with important functions or needs, cross-border commuters, and children under 12 years old).

It is assumed that, as a safeguard, the recommendations may be revised if new variants of the virus of concern are detected.

EU country ministers agreed on the application of these rules, in particular that any travel restrictions must be non-discriminatory and proportionate, and that EU countries should in principle not restrict travel by travelers from other EU member states.

Omicron will not end the pandemic

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that assuming the Omicron coronavirus strain marks the end of the most severe stage of the pandemic is dangerous.

According to him, ideal conditions have now formed for other variants of the virus to emerge: "We cannot safely assume that we are at the end of the pandemic." According to studies, the Omicron strain is more contagious but less deadly.

Some countries, including England, are changing their policies to "live with the coronavirus the same way we live with the flu." However, the WHO chief argues that such an approach is short-sighted.

Ghebreyesus said that "wavering between panic and complacency" will allow the acute stage of the pandemic to drag on: "Learning to live with the coronavirus does not mean we give this virus a right to free passage."

He urged countries not to play with a virus whose evolution cannot be controlled or predicted. According to him, coronavirus cases will still be a huge burden on global health systems, and the consequences of the pandemic are not yet fully understood.

The WHO chief hopes that the acute phase of the pandemic may end this year, thanks to increased vaccination and therapeutic tools available worldwide, such as oxygen and antiviral treatment, as well as additional testing.