Aviation bodies have called on governments for an end to quarantine on arrival,
saying it is ineffective in the current situation and is “politically driven” and not based on risk.
A review of the effectiveness of quarantine measures is included in
new guidelines issued today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
(ECDC) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The guidelines say that quarantine “may be an effective public
health measure to delay the importation and/or limit reintroduction of [Covid],
if implemented comprehensively and very early in the evolution of the epidemic
situation or when a country has reduced transmission levels to close to zero”.
They add, “In the current epidemiological
situation, where [Covid] is established in the communities of all EU/EEA
countries and the UK, imported cases account for a very small proportion of all
detected cases and are unlikely to contribute significantly to increased
transmission."
The EASA/ECDC Guidelines for COVID-19 testing and quarantine of air
travellers: Addendum to the Aviation Health Safety Protocol also reveal that air travellers account for less than one per cent of all
detected Covid-19 cases and do not increase the rate of virus transmission.
Olivier Jankovec, director general of airports organisation ACI Europe,
said, “These guidelines unequivocally show quarantines to be essentially
politically-driven, non-risk-based measures which bear no relation to what is
actually needed to safeguard public health.”
Thomas Reynaert, managing director of Airlines for Europe, added: “Rapid
testing which utilises the latest technologies available and meets the high
sensitivity and sensibility criteria established by ECDC can help restore
predictability, reignite passenger confidence and thus reestablish flight
connectivity for European passengers.”
Rafael Schvartzman, IATA’s regional vice president for Europe, said, “Rapid
testing of passengers for Covid-19 opens the door to restarting air travel by
eliminating quarantine. And the public agrees: Some 65 per cent of travellers
surveyed suggest quarantine should not apply to passengers who have tested
negative.”