The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for governments to follow World Health Organization (WHO) advice and immediately rescind travel bans that were introduced in response to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Public health organizations, including the WHO, have advised against travel curbs to contain the spread of Omicron. WHO advice for international traffic in relation to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant states that:
“Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread, and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods. In addition, they can adversely impact global health efforts during a pandemic by disincentivizing countries to report and share epidemiological and sequencing data. All countries should ensure that the measures are regularly reviewed and updated when new evidence becomes available on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of Omicron or any other variants of concern.”