Coronavirus: WHO-Europe backs travel rules for US arrivals as Omicron subvariant XBB soars
- The health body said such measures must be implemented in a ‘non-discriminatory’ manner
- The WHO added it did not expect a surge of Covid infections in China to ‘significantly impact’ the situation in Europe
Given the rapid spread of the latest offshoot of the Omicron variant – XBB. 1.5 – in the United States, WHO Regional Office for Europe officials on Tuesday recommended travel measures be implemented in a “non-discriminatory” manner.
That is not to say that “we recommend testing of patient of passengers coming from the US at this stage. Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing”, WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, told a news briefing.
Passengers should be recommended to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights, she added, “this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread Covid-19 transmission”.
The World Health Organization also said on Tuesday it did not expect a surge of Covid-19 cases in China to “significantly impact” the situation in Europe.
“The ongoing surge in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the Covid-19 epidemiological situation in the WHO European Region at this time,” Hans Kluge, WHO’s Europe director, told a press conference.
But, he stressed, “we cannot be complacent”.