Tag: COVID testing

December 8, 2021689 Views

North-eastern states of Meghalaya and Mizoram have issued new guidelines for national and international travellers coming to these states. The new guidelines were issued after the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was detected in some states, the officials said on Tuesday. Meghalaya government has issued new guidelines making it mandatory for people entering the state to register with the government website and download the Arogya Setu App and the Behavioural Change Management App, an official said. "It is mandatory for all persons entering Meghalaya to register themselves prior to their travel at http://meghalayaonline.gov.in/covid/testing.htm and to download the Arogya Setu App and the Behavioural Change Management App of Meghalaya from Google play store or App store. However, touri...

SYNLAB and IATA Partner to Facilitate Safe & Easy Travelling

August 11, 20211121 Views

SYNLAB, Europe’s leading medical diagnostic services provider, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have announced a partnership to facilitate safe and easy travel. The two partners have signed an agreement to incorporate SYNLAB’s extensive lab network into IATA Travel Pass. This will enable airline passengers to access SYNLAB’s broad and secure COVID-19 testing services, benefiting from its international capabilities. SYNLAB and IATA build upon valuable experience gained during a successful pilot project for passenger testing in Columbia over the course of the past months. SYNLAB will securely share certified COVID-19 test results with passengers directly through IATA Travel Pass, providing reliable digital proof on health status as international travel increases...

IATA warns governments on high cost of testing

July 22, 20211139 Views

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on governments to take action to address the high cost of COVID-19 tests in many jurisdictions and urged flexibility in permitting the use of cost-effective antigen tests as an alternative to more expensive PCR tests. IATA also recommended governments adopt recent World Health Organization (WHO) guidance to consider exempting vaccinated travelers from testing requirements. According to IATA’s most recent traveler survey, 86% of respondents are willing to get tested. But 70% also believe that the cost of testing is a significant barrier to travel, while 78% believe governments should bear the cost of mandatory testing. “IATA supports COVID-19 testing as a pathway to reopen borders to international travel. But our suppo...

High testing costs could stall the recovery

May 5, 2021814 Views

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on governments to ensure that high costs for COVID-19 testing don’t put travel out of reach for individuals and families. To facilitate an efficient restart of international travel, COVID-19 testing must be affordable as well as timely, widely available and effective. An IATA sampling of costs for PCR tests (the test most frequently required by governments) in 16 countries showed wide variations by markets and within markets. Findings include: Of the markets surveyed, only France complied with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for the state to bear the cost of testing for travelers. Of the 15 markets where there is a cost for PCR testing to the individual - The average minimum cost for testing was $...

IATA & Unilabs partner to help passengers manage Covid-19 tests

April 20, 2021421 Views

Unilabs, the leading European diagnostic services provider, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association for the world’s airlines, have signed an agreement to incorporate Unilabs’ worldwide Covid-19 testing network into IATA Travel Pass. The agreement will make Unilabs one of the first major lab groups to be integrated into IATA’s Travel Pass app. Proof of a negative Covid-19 test is required by many governments as a condition of entry, and the app makes the process seamless, secure, and easy. “Covid-19 testing will play a role in re-starting international travel. Travelers will need to understand test requirements, locate labs, verify their identity to the lab and transfer their test results to relevant parties – airlines and governments – as ne...

IATA and Eurofins partner to boost travel with testing

April 16, 20211544 Views

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced an agreement with Eurofins to incorporate its worldwide COVID-19 testing network into IATA Travel Pass. Eurofins is a leader in bio-analytical testing with 800 laboratories across 50 countries. As part of the partnership, Eurofins’ dedicated COVID-19 portfolio encompassing multiple test types and hundreds of COVID-19 sampling stations globally will be made available through the IATA Travel Pass. Amid the pandemic, coronavirus testing is required for most international travel. As part of the IATA Travel Pass initiative, Eurofins laboratories will provide secure, verified test results to travelers using the app. This result is checked against the IATA Travel Pass registry of national entry requirements to produce an “OK to ...

Calls for rapid testing on departure to revive international travel

March 31, 20211101 Views

New research backs rapid antigen testing for safe and efficient restart of Air Travel Rapid testing on departure at airports is the key to unlocking international travel, says the World Travel & Tourism Council in its submission to the UK government’s Global Travel Taskforce. Meanwhile, The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also urged governments to accept best-in-class rapid antigen tests in fulfillment of COVID -19 testing requirements following the publication of new research by OXERA and Edge Health. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, has been at the forefront of global efforts to revive safe travel in the COVID-19 era. It has said that while vaccine rollout around the world is to b...

WTTC asks to focus on high-risk ‘travellers’ instead of ‘countries’

February 5, 2021329 Views

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called for governments to abandon the concept of ‘high-risk countries’ and instead focus on how individual ‘high-risk travellers’ are treated at borders. WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, is urging governments around the world to shift their focus from whole countries, towards individual travellers. Instead, WTTC says governments around the world should redefine their whole approach to risk assessment, to revive international business and leisure travel. Combined with a common international consensus on the metrics used to assess risk and a laser-like focus on a cost-effective, comprehensive, and rapid departure and arrival testing scheme for all travellers, could pave the way forward for t...

Quarantine v/s testing protocol, the debate intensifies