Travel Measures during a pandemic – Apps, Certificates, Quarantine and traffic-light risk maps
Communicating travel measures during a pandemic
Travelling has become increasingly complex during the COVID-19 pandemic. To reopen Europe safely, a consensus on travel measures was agreed between countries to enable movement between countries with as few restrictions as possible. However, communication of these travel measures and requirements for entry are not always clear and easily available.
The aim of this study was to assess the availability, accessibility, and harmonization of travel information available for countries in Europe.
We performed a systematic documental analysis of online publicly available information and synthesized travel entry requirements for all countries in the European Union and Schengen Area (N= 31). For each country, we assessed entry requirements, actions after entry, how risk was assessed, and how accessible the information was.
Although a comprehensive set of measures has been developed to enable continued safe travel in Europe, further refinements and coordination are needed to align travel measures throughout the EU to minimize confusion and maximize adherence to requested measures. We recommend that, along with developing travel measures based on a common set of rules, a standard approach should be taken to communicate what these measures are.
