EU travellers could avoid quarantine under plans for COVID-19 testing regime: The Telegraph

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EU travellers could avoid quarantine under plans for COVID-19 testing regime: The Telegraph

 

FILE PHOTO: Passengers wearing protective face masks walk at Fiumicino Airport on the day EU governments agreed a "safe list" of 14 countries for which they will allow non-essential travel starting from July, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Rome, Italy, June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

 

(Reuters) - Travellers across Europe could avoid quarantine under plans to introduce a comprehensive COVID-19 testing regime, The Telegraph reported on Monday.

 

The European Commission wants testing to be the "preferred" alternative to quarantine for travellers and has commissioned health experts to develop protocols, the report https://bit.ly/3doSz0O said.

 

Plans will also require "mutual recognition" of COVID-19 tests by countries which would enable business travellers or holiday makers arriving in a country to reduce or sidestep quarantine by presenting a medical certificate showing a negative coronavirus result, according to the newspaper.

 

Britain is expected to be part of the scheme until it leaves the European Union at the end of the year but could remain part of it after Brexit, the report added, citing EU sources.

 

Last week, EU countries had agreed to a common "traffic light" system to guide them on COVID-19 testing or quarantines on EU tourists and other non-essential travellers during the pandemic.

 

It aims to end a confusing patchwork of restrictions across Europe and to bring back free movement of people.

 

According to the report, EU foreign ministers will sign the proposed traffic light system on Tuesday.

 

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-13

 

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[rupert the bear]

good idea and if youve had the vaccine too,al last normality beckons ,dont hold ur breath here  though

[Donga]

Hallelujah! Some group sanity at last.

Distancing, face masks, protect the elderly, restrict indoor gatherings and get the world moving again.

Hope this initiative is contagious ????

[RayC]

"Britain is expected to be part of the scheme until it leaves the European Union at the end of the year but could remain part of it after Brexit, the report added, citing EU sources."

 

Ohhh... some people won't be happy with talk of an extension post-transition. 'We voted to leave'. 'Brexit means Brexit', don't these EU bods know that by now?!

[DrTuner]

Makes sense. Hope lives eternal for EU to finally become something useful.

[RayC]

25 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Makes sense. Hope lives eternal for EU to finally become something useful.

You mean in addition to creating the world's largest trading block, and giving 500m people the freedom to live, study, work and travel (relatively) restriction free within 27 countries amongst other things?

[DrTuner]

3 minutes ago, RayC said:

You mean in addition to creating the world's largest trading block, and giving 500m people the freedom to live, study, work and travel (relatively) restriction free within 27 countries amongst other things?

Europe was fairly free before EU already, thanks to EEC. Granted, Schengen is somewhat useful, but it also got abused by the illegal immigrants. 

 

Right now EU is still a Frankenunion - no common defense force, multiple official languages, multiple currencies, loads of exceptions for countries, etc. I'd prefer it to be a real union.

[from the home of CC]

good luck..