Vacation countries promise to demand “health passports” from tourists, but can only do more harm

Greece, which plans to open on July 1, has announced 9 rules to be followed by tourists, airlines, hotels. The first is that the traveler will still have to present evidence at their home airport that they do not carry COVID-19.

Athens has indicated that airlines must provide a certificate to the airline stating the response to the coronavirus test. It must be done no earlier than 72 hours in advance. If a tourist does not have such a certificate, they will not even be allowed to board a plane flying to Greece.

The Spanish Balearic Islands, Croatia, the Italian islands of Sardinia, Capri and others also speak of compulsory “health passports”. Turkey promises to screen people as soon as they arrive.

Lithuania would consider the possibility

In Lithuania, there is no possibility for anyone who wants to take a test for COVID-19. With the reference of a family doctor, tests are carried out on people who have experienced cold symptoms (fever, cough, suffocation), preventive examinations are performed on employees of some companies and target groups. The moving point can also be tested after receiving a reference from a 1808 coronavirus hotline.

Health Minister Aurelius Veryga was asked at a press conference Tuesday when there would be investigative opportunities for anyone who wanted, saying he couldn’t predict it.

“It just came to our attention then. Although the countries were closed, there was no need for people to test and detect the presence of the virus, the minister explained.” If that need arises, we will definitely think about that possibility. When will it really be? I don’t dare say it. “

A.Veryga also spoke out against travel to more lands in the near future. “As long as the situation in Europe and the world itself is very turbulent, weigh a hundred times before buying tickets, before traveling somewhere, so you don’t have to fly again, and then you have to organize flights again to get it back,” he urged. the minister.

He stressed that there are still many unanswered questions about movement between countries, even in Europe, states have not taken a unified position.

“And if you think of Greece as a place where you want to relax, then perhaps a good opportunity is to discover Lithuania. Let’s take advantage of our opportunities, which we often seem to have forgotten.” A. Veryga urged to stay in Lithuania and in Latvia and Estonia, which will open this week.

Be careful with the risks of passports.

Mandatory health passports are mentioned most often by southern European countries that want to revitalize tourism, which is vital to their economies, as soon as possible. They see those “health passports”, evidence that the newcomer does not carry the virus, as an opportunity to protect society.

But, would such a passport really be proof that the tourist is “safe”? The World Health Organization warned that they could do even more harm.

“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” the WHO said in late April.

As a result, the use of “health passports” could even increase the risk of spreading the virus, as it would give people a misleading sense of security.

“There is not enough evidence of antibody immunity in this pandemic to warrant the accuracy of an ‘immunity passport’ or ‘certificate of no risk,'” the WHO said.

The organization has not ruled out the possibility that its position may change as we become aware of this coronavirus after further investigation.

A.Veryga had been skeptical about “health passports”. “You know very well that a person undergoing a test can successfully become infected and become a carrier after one day. So that investigation does not mean anything in itself, “the minister explained at the end of April.

The WHO cautions that such passports could cause even more damage by creating a misleading sense of security.

Chile has already become the first country in the world to issue “immunity passports”. They will be welcomed by healthy people, and this will allow them to return to work and a normal life (as much as possible today).

Again, recovery does not mean that a person does not become infected again. However, scientists see another danger in such “immunity passports”: People can purposely try to become infected.

“Immunity passports would create artificial restrictions on who can and cannot participate in social, civic and economic life,” wrote Alexandra Phelan, a health expert at Georgetown University, in The Lancet Medical Journal. “They can even create a distorted incentive for people to search for infections.”

A bioethics expert from Harvard Law School also warned of this, recalling the “chicken pox parties.” Until there was a vaccine against the disease, it was believed in some communities that healthy children should be allowed to play specifically with the infected to get sick sooner.

“As in the old days of chickenpox parties, some workers may want to become infected with COVID-19,” he told Bloomberg. “It sounds crazy, but if having antibodies becomes the price to pay for returning to the job market and feeding the family, some workers may feel compelled to do so.”