Travel News

By Chukwuma Muanya, Wole Oyebade (Lagos) and

• Stakeholders query travel ban from India, Brazil, Turkey over COVID-19 spike 

• Airlines face $3,500 fine per defaulting passenger 

• Decision hasty, not based on data, says Tomori 

• Experts rally govt to rapid testings at Lagos, Abuja airports

Chaotic scenes are expected at the check-in counters of Nigeria-bound airlines as a new set of stiffer protocols takes effect today. The new guidelines, among others, ban air travellers from India, Brazil and Turkey, with a fine of $3,500 per defaulting passenger.

The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 at the weekend rolled out a fresh guideline for inbound passengers, reducing the validity period of pre-boarding COVID-19 PCR test from 96 to 72 hours.

Besides, non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within 14 days preceding travel to Nigeria will be denied entry into the country. This regulation, however, does not apply to passengers who transited through these countries.

For arriving passenger who fails to comply, the airline shall mandatorily pay a penalty of $3,500 for each defaulting passenger, while non-Nigerians will be denied entry and returned to the country of embarkation at cost to the airline.

Nigerians and those with permanent resident permit, who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within 14 days preceding travel to Nigeria shall, among others, be made to undergo seven days of mandatory quarantine in a government-approved facility at the point-of-entry and at cost to the passenger.

Officials of foreign airlines, yesterday, hinted that the implementation of the fresh guideline was too hasty and readily puts airlines in a difficult position.

Country representative of one of the affected airlines said: “I think the implementation was rather too quick. We got the new travel advisory late Saturday and it readily comes into effect on Monday. It means airlines will have to start going through all intending passengers’ details one after the other to avoid violation of the air bubble. It is a tedious and difficult situation for us all, not only in Nigeria. I will not be surprised if some of our flights don’t make it here,” he said.

Other stakeholders said the guidelines were in order, but the Federal Government should do more to provide on-arrival rapid tests at Lagos and Abuja international entry ports.

Indeed, many countries and destinations have lately announced restrictions after the caseload of COVID-19 patients spiked in India. Among them are Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Dubai, Canada, Pakistan, New Zealand, Iran, Australia, Netherlands, Thailand, and Italy.

Indian hospitals, morgues and crematoriums have been overwhelmed as the country has reported more than 300,000 daily cases for more than 10 days straight. Many families have been left on their own to find medicines and oxygen.

At the weekend, India pushed the world record for daily new cases higher, reporting 401,993 new cases on Saturday and then 392,488 yesterday. It is averaging over 3,000 Covid deaths each day, with more than 200,000 dead in total, with evidence suggesting the official numbers vastly understate the toll.

In Brazil, new coronavirus cases have fallen off a late-March peak, but remain high by historical standards. Total deaths in the country are second only to the United States.

Turkey imposed a nationwide “full lockdown” on Thursday, lasting until May 17, to curb a surge in coronavirus infections and deaths, with the world’s fourth highest number of cases and the worst on a per-capita basis among major nations.

A statement signed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said Nigeria had been monitoring with concern the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in several countries over the last few weeks.

He said: “Of the countries assessed, this interim travel advisory applies to three countries in the first instance. These precautionary measures are a necessary step to minimise the risk of a surge in COVID-19 cases introduced to Nigeria from other countries, while national response activities continue.

“Nigerians are strongly advised to avoid any non-essential international travels to any country at this period and specifically to countries that are showing a rising number of cases and deaths.

“For Nigerians arriving from or with contacts with India, Brazil or Turkey, they shall within 24 hours of arrival take a COVID-19 PCR test. If positive, the passenger shall be admitted within a government-approved treatment centre, in line with national treatment protocols; and if negative, the passenger shall continue to remain in quarantine and made to undergo a repeat PCR test on day seven of their quarantine.

“False declaration: Passenger(s) who provided false or misleading contact information will be liable to prosecution. Person(s) who willfully disregard or refuse to comply with directions of Port Health staff, security agencies or evade quarantine shall be prosecuted in accordance with the law.

“State governments are required to ensure that all returning travellers from all countries are monitored to ensure adherence to the mandatory seven-day self-isolation period and the repeat COVID-19 PCR test on the seventh day after arrival. We urge members of the public to adhere to all COVID-19 preventive measures in place including adherence to the national travel protocol, proper use of face masks, regular hand washing and physical distancing,” the advisory read in part.

Travel consultant, Sunday Olumegbon, yesterday, said while Nigeria is trying to keep safe, both the travellers and airlines would suffer more disruptions. “I have a number of clients that have made their travel plans for either business or medical trips abroad. Most of them are jittery now because of the new protocols and the less likelihood of being taken by airlines without additional cost, that is, if they find airlines that will airlift them.

“I really cannot blame the Nigerian government. They have a duty to keep the country safe. I think they can do better. A country like Ethiopia some days ago set up a high-end COVID-19 testing laboratory at its main hub in Addis Ababa, providing quick and accurate test results on arrival. In three hours, your result is ready. Why not in Lagos and Abuja airports, instead of having to quarantine travellers?” Olumegbon queried.

Aviation security consultant, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), said Nigeria had been on this path at the onset of the pandemic. “Often, we take a knee-jerk or copycat approach without making an effort to take initiatives that are original to us. Why not behave the way the South Koreans and Chinese had done? Be original.

“My suggestions, modified from what I said earlier in March last year; redistribute all the foreign airlines to the four or five international airports and none of them must go to more than one in the four or five, except those from the same country like the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

“We have about 30 foreign airlines coming to Nigeria, it therefore means each of the international airports would be having six foreign airlines flights. The aim is to be able to effectively and efficiently test, trace and track any infected passenger. Each airport must have testing centres and adequate skilled manpower in sufficient numbers to do the testing 24 hours at the airports for arriving travellers,” he said.

IN his reaction, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, a virologist and chairman, Expert Ministerial Review Committee on COVID-19, said: “While the focus is on passengers who have been in India 14 days prior to entering Nigeria, I think we should also include passengers who transit through India. It does not take forever to get exposed to an infected person.

“Also, a targeted rather than blanket ban should be pursued for the following reasons. We have no direct flight to and from India. So, they can come in transiting through Addis, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Kigali, Lome, Accra, or Europe. What of an India-origin passenger who comes into Lagos via Seme border, how do we monitor such? We should focus on passenger and not the flight.

“This requires upping the performance of our staff at the points of entry, serious attention to details of arriving passengers and forms completed and diligent monitoring such as immediate sample collection on arrival, daily temperature and symptoms checks. Blanket checks are by nature discriminatory. When we discovered UK’s B.1.1.7 variant and it was spreading in the UK, did we ban UK flights? When our B.1.525 variant invaded UK, did they ban flights from Nigeria? What UK did was to strengthen internal mechanisms targeted and focused on the passenger and not flight bans.

“The countries that have banned Indian flights have based this decision on data. How many flights from India come into the country, how many passengers are Indians, which part of India are they coming from? We have no clue or answers to the questions and we cannot wake up without evidence and just throw in a blanket ban.

“Again, the devil is in the implementation of our guidelines. With our disregard for honesty and accountability, our Ports Of Entry (POE) will become Points Of Escape (POE) for the travellers after a few rupees have changed hands.”

BY  Okechukwu Nnodim

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has lifted the suspension it placed on Azman Air on March 15 following series of incidents involving the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft.

Azman announced on Sunday that the lifting of the suspension was confirmed in a meeting held between the management of the domestic airline and NCAA on May 1, 2021.

The airline stated that its operations of all the Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet were suspended by the regulator pursuant to Section 35 (2) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and Part 1.3.3.3 (A) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2015.

In the announcement, signed by the airline’s management, it said, “In this regard, having satisfactorily undergone the safety audit and implemented the corrective action plan as recommended by the regulatory body, we are pleased to inform the general public that the suspension is hereby lifted.”

The NCAA had explained that it suspended Azman Air in order to enable the authority to conduct an audit of the airline and determine the root causes of the incidents, as well as recommend corrective actions to forestall future re-occurrence.

Over 60 U.S. stadiums and other venues are deploying an app from Clear to verify people’s COVID-19 status, placing the New York company known for its airport security fast lanes at the forefront of a national debate over “vaccine passports.”

Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants and New York Mets are among the first big businesses to demand guests prove they tested negative for the virus or are immunized against it. While the teams welcome paper proof, they encourage downloading records onto Clear's Health Pass feature for convenience.

As with mask mandates, such requirements are under attack from Republican politicians and anti-surveillance activists, as un-American intrusions on civil liberties. They fear businesses will discriminate against the unvaccinated and unnecessarily amass personal data.

Republican governors including in Florida and Texas last month moved to bar some establishments from asking about immunization status, though legal experts say door-checks are lawful to protect public health.

Privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation fears Clear and other passport apps will hold data indefinitely and morph into consumer trackers. Clear said users control their health records.

As a business based on replacing physical IDs, tickets and credit cards with facial or fingerprint recognition, Clear has a huge opportunity in emerging health-check rules that would familiarize more people with its technology.

"Those experiences where you have to prove something about you – if we can help empower the consumer to get through that more quickly - that is our core business," said Catesby Perrin, Clear's executive vice president of growth.

So far, Clear is among coronavirus health app frontrunners, with partners including United Airlines (UAL.O) for its Los Angeles-to-Honolulu flights and the Venetian resort in Las Vegas for conventions it hosts.

With fans anxious to get back to live sports, the Giants said its promotion generated about 6,000 Clear downloads in April. Nationwide, over 70,000 Health Passes are used for venue admission weekly, Clear said, though the app is only starting to verify vaccination status.

Also gaining traction is Excelsior Pass, funded by New York state, which supports verification of tests and vaccinations within the state. The app generated 500,000 certificates in April, and a companion app for businesses to verify them had 40,000 installations, New York spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said.

Excelsior Pass developer IBM Corp (IBM.N) is in discussions with additional states, vice president Eric Piscini said.

In Europe, several governments have introduced apps that may be required to access transport, gyms and restaurants, while the 27-nation European Union races to develop a “gateway” that will enable them to work across borders.

Airline-backed Travel Pass and the nonprofit CommonPass, which was installed an estimated 20,000 times over the last two months in the United States, are being tested for international flight checks.

It remains unclear whether high-tech options to prove health status will be widely required. At their best, apps would combat fake records by validating information against public health databases, but that is no small task.

Piscini said it requires accessing at least 64 separate databases in the United States. But California, for example, has yet to specify whether and when it will share records with apps.

Clear has started testing access to vaccination records but declined to disclose details.

New online tools that have gained a few thousand users, including VaxYes and ConfirmD, are attesting to the veracity of vaccine certificate uploads by having medical professionals weed out forgeries.

"The demand (to automate) is there. There's just a myriad different hoops to get through," said Mohammad Gaber, chief executive of VaxYes developer GoGet.

AIRPORTS TO BALLPARKS

Clear users upload a driver's license or other identity document and take a selfie, which the system checks to make sure they match before connecting to COVID-19 test results from hundreds of labs or the proof of vaccination.

Some venues also require a symptom survey on Clear or an automated temperature check at a Clear kiosk.

Users get a "green" pass with their headshot and a QR code to show staff or scan at entrances. Venues pay for the system.

Texas music festival Electric Cookout adopted Health Pass to reduce chances of an outbreak, said co-founder Pooja Shah. About 50 out of 1,200 attendees used it at an April event and received access to special areas, she said.

Clear's primary service, priced at $179 annually, enables customers to use biometric scans to skip ID card inspections at nearly 40 U.S. airports. It also offers a free service enabling registered users to jet through "Clear lanes" to access entertainment venues.

Combining subscribers and non-paying users, Clear, whose services also go by Alclear and Secure Identity, said it has about 5.7 million members.

The company will not disclose financial results, but announced in February a $100 million funding round with investors including growth firm General Atlantic and the National Football League's 32 Equity fund.

Clear still has hurdles to become accepted and get people comfortable with using it.

The Seattle Mariners baseball team promoted Clear's technology for ID-less beer purchases from 2018 through 2019. The team said the effort did not generate "meaningful" usage data.

Washington state's alcohol regulator said Clear cannot be the "sole methodology for ascertaining legal age."

Clear said it was pleased with results and continues to educate regulators.

The Giants aim to enable card-less concession sales this year, and its chief business development officer, Jason Pearl, is enthusiastic about Clear’s technology. “I don’t think anyone else comes close.”

BY VICTORIA HARRISON

Time after time, education has proved to be a gateway to invaluable opportunities, not only for its direct participants and their families, but for the world as a whole. It is said that the value of education cannot be accurately quantified. As such, rewards such as honour, prestige and recognition have been perceived to be adequate measures of the value of education. More often than not, Nigeria has been a recipient of these rewards by virtue of her citizens who, home and abroad, are thriving in their careers. These careers span the fields of law, medicine, engineering, sports and the arts.

In recent years, a number of Nigerians have projected the country into the limelight of the medical profession. These outstanding individuals have worked hard to distinguish themselves and have earned the respect of their contemporaries in countries such as the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Europe and indeed, all over the world. Here is a brief look at the feats of some of these high-achieving professionals in the diaspora.

1. Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye

Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye is a renowned fetal and pediatric Nigeria born surgeon based in Texas. In 2016, he successfully operated on a baby-in-utero. The mother, at the 23rd week of pregnancy had gone for a routine ultra-sound and it was discovered that her baby had a rare birth defect known as sacrococcygeal teratoma, a large tumor located on the fetus’ tailbone. Olutoye led a team of 21 doctors to remove the tumor. The five-hour surgery involved removing the baby from the uterus for 20 minutes so as to remove the tumor and then placing the baby back into the womb for the remainder of the gestation period, after which she was safely delivered.

For this groundbreaking feat, Olutoye was appointed surgeon-in-chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the US. He now leads one of the largest children’s hospital surgery departments in the world.

Olutoye received his medical degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. In 1996, he went on to earn his PhD in anatomy from Virginia Commonwealth University. He completed his residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, and his fellowships in pediatric and fetal surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is certified in surgery and pediatric surgery by the American Board of Surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the West African College of Surgeons. Olutoye is a member of the American Surgical Association, the American Pediatric Surgical Association and past president of the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society.

In 2019, Olutoye was appointed professor and the E. Thomas Boles chair of the pediatric surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

2. Professor Iyalla Elvis Peterside

Dr. Peterside is an attending neonatologist in the division of neonatology at Children’s Hospital and director of the intensive care unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked in four continents including Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. His expertise includes care of the neonatal patient, infection control with emphasis on catheter-related blood stream infections, the use of ECMO to treat critically ill patients in respiratory and cardiac failure.

He received his primary medical education in Nigeria at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 1985. He did his internship at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria and Booth Hall Children’s Hospital, Manchester, England. He did his residency at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, Booth Hall Children Hospital, Manchester, England, the Brooklyn Hospital Center, New York and Cornell Medical Center, New York. In addition to these prestigious qualifications, Professor Peterside is Board Certified by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and London. He is also the president of the Philadelphia Perinatal Society.

In March 2021, the Nigerian-born medical doctor was recognized as one of America’s best physicians of the year 2020 by the US National Consumer Advisory Board.

3. Dr. Njideka Udochi

Dr. Njideka Udochi is yet another shining example of the innate spirit of excellence that thrives in Nigerians. Shortly after the appointment of her sister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, the Nigerian-born physician became the very first black female to emerge Family Physician of the Year in Maryland, United States. This award was bestowed on her by the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians (MDAFP) in 2021. Becky Wimmer, the academy’s executive director, revealed that Njideka Udochi was selected from six candidates because she “continues to provide her patients and communities with passion and care” and also remarked that “all her contributions made her stand out.” The award is the MDAFP recognition of Udochi’s exemplary character and her embodiment of the values and traditions of a model family physician. It is a position of great honor and prestige and is no small feat indeed.

For Njideka Udochi, a graduate of medicine from the University of Nigeria with over 33 years of experience, excellence in her chosen career field and a long-standing character of integrity go hand in hand and this is evidenced by the stellar ratings from her patients who commend her as the best family doctor they have ever had. In her practice, she is known by her patients as a doctor who establishes a connection with each individual and strives to treat all her patients as if they are her family. After earning her master’s in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School, Njideka Udochi proceeded to undergo her residency at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1988. The following year, she completed her fellowship in the same university. She is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. For five years following this, she worked as a medical director for Baltimore’s Healthcare for the Homeless and a former HIV clinic known as the Health Education Resource Organization (HERO). Over the period of seven years, Udochi has worked with about 152,857 patients from Maryland and Washington, DC as well as patients from 114 countries around the world. She is currently resident in Columbia, Maryland in the United States.

4. Dr. Onyema Ogbuagu

Another exceptional medical practitioner flying the Nigerian flag high in the USA is Professor Onyema Ogbuagu. He is an associate professor of medicine in the clinician-educator track and director of the HIV clinical trials program of the Yale AIDS Program, Section of Infectious Diseases of the Yale School of Medicine. He was recently recognized as one of the researchers instrumental in the creation of the Pfizer vaccine for the infamous COVID-19 virus. As a Yale infectious diseases specialist, he ran Pfizer’s vaccine trial at the school, and he subsequently served to reassure black people in America and worldwide that they have nothing to worry about concerning the vaccine.

Between 2003-2010, Dr. Ogbuagu received his education at the University of Calabar College of Medical Sciences and completed his residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He had his fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine in 2012. In response to the COVID pandemic, he is the Yale principal investigator on multiple investigational therapeutic and preventative clinical trials for COVID-19 including remdesivir (now FDA approved), Pfizer and GSK COVID-19 vaccines. Professor Ogbuagu has over 18 years of experience in the medical field.

Other Nigerian medics who have gained recognition in the diaspora are Dr. Bennet Omalu, Dr. Isioma Okobah among others.

Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-American physician, was the first to discover and publish findings on the chronic traumatic encephalopathy in American football players while working in Pittsburgh. So profound was his discovery that his article was expanded into a book titled Concussion. It was later adapted into a film of the same name, in which Omalu was portrayed by famous Hollywood actor, Will Smith.

Isioma Okobah, in 2017, bagged the highest medical award in the US as the 2017 Prestigious Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians Award. The award is for practicing physicians in the US who have distinguished themselves among colleagues and in their community by their contribution towards the development of family medicine.

With the aforementioned, it is clear that there is no shortage of brilliance and capacity for greatness amongst Nigerians. These outstanding individuals and many more Nigerian professionals are but a few among the many professionals who spin a different narrative of Nigeria and Nigerians in diaspora. Their exploits speak louder than any written words.

Victoria Harrison is a researcher and an enthusiast of everything good about Nigeria. She is currently studying law at the University of Lagos.

BY  Anshuman Daga

A boom in technology jobs across all sectors in Singapore and a shortage of tech workers means the country will have to rely on foreigners to fill the gap, Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Tuesday.

Singapore is emerging as a regional tech hub but headhunters say it faces a severe talent crunch as more firms move in. This is partly because of government policies to tighten foreign hiring to offset falling Singaporean employment amid the coronavirus pandemic. read more

Singaporeans make up just over one-third of the estimated 25,000 tech workforce in the local financial sector, Menon said during a webinar on job opportunities in the financial services and tech jobs in the industry.

"The competition for tech talent is economy-wide as more sectors embark on digitalisation," said Menon, adding that the pipeline of local tech graduates wasn't enough to fill the vacancies.

The city-state, an Asian base for many multi-nationals and banks, is home to global companies such as Facebook (FB.O) and Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), while ByteDance and Zoom (ZM.O) are hiring aggressively in the country of 5.7 million people.

The large mismatch between demand and supply of tech workers meant that "we have to continue to depend on foreigners to fill the growing vacancies for technology jobs over the next few years," Menon said.

"If we tighten this inflow excessively, it will impair not just the competitiveness of our financial centre but dampen the prospects for creating good jobs in the future, especially for Singaporeans," he said.

Singapore also needs to build a strong pipeline of local tech talent by involving financial institutions, individuals and the government, the central banker said.

The Singapore government has imposed tighter immigration curbs but also said it must remain open to overseas talent.

Effective this year, Singapore rolled out a new work visa for foreign executives of tech firms.

The country's total employment in 2020 shrank the most in more than two decades.

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam is keeping people in quarantine centers longer than the 14-day period in its latest step to prevent the spread of coronavirus amid the emergence of cases being traced to overseas travelers.

Provinces were instructed by the health ministry to “temporarily keep” in quarantine until further notice people who have completed the 14-day isolation, according to a post on the government website. Three patients in Vinh Phuc were found to be carrying a virus variant first detected in India, the health ministry said.

Authorities are scrutinizing cases including that of an Indian national who checked into a hospital in Hanoi on May 3 and tested positive for Covid-19 earlier on Tuesday. This was after he had completed the required 14-day quarantine when he arrived in Vietnam on April 17. He isolated in a hotel in the coastal city of Haiphong and tested negative twice after ending quarantine.

It’s Not Just India. New Virus Waves Hit Developing Nations (2)

The Hanoi government has placed the apartment building that’s home to about 1,500 people including the Indian national under temporary lockdown, according to the city’s health department. Authorities are also keeping a close watch on the case of a hotel staff member in Danang whose transmission is still unknown, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

Vietnam, which has among the lowest number of infections in Southeast Asia, has ordered movement restrictions after domestic Covid-19 cases flared up for the first time in a month. The nation is lagging peers in the region on vaccination, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

Hanoi has shut schools, tourism sites and sidewalk eateries while Ho Chi Minh City shuttered cinemas, spas and gaming venues and suspended conferences. As of the morning of May 4, Vietnam had a total of 2,985 cases and 35 deaths.

Itching to travel again? You're not alone.

One Ottawa travel agency says people are booking Caribbean and resort vacations for as early as this September and cruises are quickly filling up for next year.

"A lot of people are booking now because they've had their first vaccine," said Carolyn Pernari, president of Centrum Travel-CWT Vacations. "Everyone's just feeling more comfortable to take that plunge."

In the past month, Pernari said, she's seen a big jump in overseas vacation bookings, especially for fall and winter 2021. Cruises are in hot demand for 2022 while Canadians are also planning domestic travel.

"It's been related to the actual vaccination rollout, for sure. People just think that they're going to be vaccinated by September, so that they're going to be safe to travel after that."

• Each day this week, CBC Ottawa is asking one question that's been on people's minds as vaccine campaigns pick up across Canada. This is part one.

People are mainly booking packages in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico, Pernari said. There are also more reservations for yachts and smaller resorts, and some couples are booking destination weddings.

"One of our agents is booking probably 10 vacations a day. She's very, very busy," Pernari said.

Once quarantine travel rules change, Pernari thinks demand for travel will jump even more.

But will travel be safe?

Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist and associate professor with the University of Ottawa, said he doesn't foresee leisure travel happening on a large scale until people get their second vaccine dose.

In Canada, where gaps are as long as four months between shots, that means no travel until the fall.

"That's the way it should work. But I don't have a lot of faith in policy makers to do what should be happening," said Deonandan. "So I wouldn't be surprised if somehow we started opening up travel to those who've only had one shot."

Even if the population is well vaccinated, there will still be risks from variants and new COVID-19 cases, said Deonandan.

There will have to be vaccine passports. I don't see a way around it. - Raywat Deonandan, epidemiologist

"Vaccination is not a bulletproof vest," he said. "Because you're vaccinated doesn't mean you can't become a carrier and bring infection back."

Worldwide travel probably won't happen freely until at least 2024, when hot-spot countries are able to get enough vaccines to quash their epidemics, said Deonandan.

Americans may travel to EU this summer

South of the border, the U.S. — whose vaccination campaign is far ahead of Canada's — is talking with the European Union about plans to develop a type of international COVID-19 passport called a Digital Green Certificate.

EU officials on Monday proposed easing restrictions on visiting the 27-nation bloc as vaccination campaigns across the continent gather speed. Under the proposal, entry would be granted to all those fully vaccinated with EU-authorized shots.

Meanwhile, Doug Manuel, a senior scientist with the Ottawa Hospital, said it seems a little too soon to think about travel, even within Canada.

"I'm from the East Coast. I'm not planning to go back [this summer]," he said. "And that's the second year in my life that I'm not going back ... in the summer."

BY  Nikos Chrysoloras and Viktoria Dendrinou

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union aims to take a significant step toward a return to normalcy with plans to reopen its borders after months of pandemic-induced restrictions.

Just in time for the summer travel season, Spanish, Italian and Greek beaches along with cities like Paris, Rome and Berlin would be able to welcome travelers who have been fully inoculated against Covid-19, under a proposal by the European Commission.

It’s “time to revive the EU tourism industry and for cross-border friendships to rekindle -- safely,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.

While still battling a third wave, Europe is showing signs of gaining control of the disease, which has infected more than 30 million in the region. Lockdowns in several countries are being loosened as contagion rates ebb and inoculations ramp up.

The EU’s executive arm recommended welcoming visitors from countries with relatively low infection rates as well as those who are fully vaccinated, according to a statement Monday. The proposals require approval from a weighted majority of the bloc’s 27 member states and could be adopted as soon as the end of May, according to a commission official.

The new parameters would replace a blanket ban for non-essential travel to the EU for residents of all but a handful of countries. The rules have been in place for more than a year and represented a bitter blow for a region that prides itself on open borders.

Under the proposal, member states would be obliged to accept proof for all shots approved in the EU -- including those produced by Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE, AstraZeneca Plc, Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson.

National governments will have the discretion to accept shots that have cleared the World Health Organization emergency use listing process, but they can’t recognize other vaccines on their own. This means people inoculated with Russia’s Sputnik or the Sinopharm and Sinovac shots from China will not be allowed to travel freely to the EU solely based of their immunization status.

The new rules include a so-called emergency brake, which would allow member states to restore travel bans on countries where risky new variants emerge or contagion rates spike. In such an event, only essential workers, such as diplomats and health-care staff, would be allowed entry from those countries, and even then, they would be subject to strict testing and quarantine requirements.

Faced with a sector crippled by the pandemic, tourism ministers from Group of 20 nations are expected to approve guidelines on issues including safe mobility when they hold a virtual summit on Tuesday. The G-20 -- the forum that brings together the world’s major economies -- is expected to support measures for so-called vaccine passports, including the EU’s Green Digital Certificate.

The next step in the EU’s approval process will happen on Wednesday when member-state representatives convene in Brussels to discuss the proposal.

A commission official told reporters in Brussels that Israel will definitely be on the list of countries whose vaccinated residents are allowed to travel to the EU. Reciprocity will also be considered as a factor for easing leisure travel, the official added when asked about U.K. residents.

The commission will draw up a list of approved vaccination certificates issued by non-EU countries. Discussions with Washington will hopefully lead to the introduction of a uniform certificate that meets the EU’s security and accuracy standards, the commission official said.

(Updates with details about EU and G-20 meetings)

By Wole Oyebade

•PCR test cost between $90 and $208
•Arik Air restores Abuja-Maiduguri flights

Airlines, yesterday, raised the alarm over the cost implication of mandatory coronavirus tests, citing the impact on airfares that have spiked by over 45 per cent.

The airlines, following a survey of PCR tests globally, said the cost implication currently borne by travellers raises a barrier against demand surge and air travel recovery.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), therefore, called on governments to ensure that high costs for COVID-19 testing do not put travel out of reach for individuals and families.

The body, representing 280 airlines, said COVID-19 testing must be affordable as well as timely, widely available and effective if the sector must make headway.

Meanwhile, Arik Air has restored flights connecting Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja and Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Passengers traveling from Lagos can connect to this service beginning from Monday, May 10, 2021.

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 from the markets surveyed, showed that only France complied with the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation for the state to bear the cost of testing for travellers.

Of the 15 markets where there is a cost for PCR testing to the individual, the average minimum cost for testing was $90. The average maximum cost for testing was $208. In Nigeria, the test costs an average of N50, 000 ($105) per entry.

At the average low-end costs, adding PCR testing to average airfares dramatically increases the cost of flying for individuals. Pre-crisis, the average one-way airline ticket, including taxes and charges, costs $200 (2019 data).

A $90 PCR test raises the cost by 45 per cent to $290. By adding another test on arrival, the one-way cost would leap by 90 per cent to $380. Assuming that two tests are needed in each direction, the average cost for an individual return trip could balloon from $400 to $760.

The impact of the costs of COVID-19 testing on family travel would be even more severe. Based on average ticket prices ($200) and average low-end PCR testing ($90) twice each way, a journey for four that would have cost $1,600 pre-COVID, could nearly double to $3,040—with $1440 being testing costs.

IATA’s Director-General, Willie Walsh, said as travel restrictions are lifted in domestic markets, airlines were seeing strong demand and expected the same in international markets.

“But that could be perilously compromised by testing costs – particularly PCR testing. Raising the cost of any product will significantly stifle demand. The impact will be greatest for short-haul trips (up to 1,100 km), with average fares of $105, the tests will cost more than the flight. That’s not what you want to propose to travelers as we emerge from this crisis. Testing costs must be better managed. That’s critical if governments want to save tourism and transport jobs; avoid limiting travel freedoms to the wealthy,” Walsh said.

Travel expert, Sunday Olumegbon, said the multiple test regime was bound to affect travel demand. Olumegbon noted that all booked international flights had increased by an average of N100, 000, without considering the cost of coronavirus mandatory tests.

“An average passenger would require about three COVID-19 tests in the course of a journey. Someone coming from the UK would have done a test over there, do another one upon arrival here. And when leaving Nigeria, he or she would do another. Two tests in Nigeria are over N100, 000. He or she is already looking at a total of N500, 000 for a trip that earlier costs N250, 000. Now, if travel is not very important, how many people will do such a trip? That is where we are now,” Olumegbon said.

Airlines recently urged governments to bear the cost of testing, in compliance with the World Health Organisation’s recommendation. The world health body stipulates that states should not charge for testing or vaccination required for travel or the issuance of certificates.

The WHO COVID Emergency Committee recently reiterated this position, calling on governments to reduce the financial burden on international travellers of complying with testing requirements and any other public health measures implemented by countries.

“Many states are ignoring their international treaty obligations, putting a travel recovery in jeopardy and risking millions of livelihoods. High testing costs also incentivize the market for fake certificates.

Testing costs should not stand between people and their freedom to travel. The best solution is for the costs to be borne by governments. It’s their responsibility under WHO guidelines. We must not let the cost of testing—particularly PCR testing—limit the freedom to travel to the rich or those able to be vaccinated. A successful restart of travel means so much to people—from personal job security to business opportunities and the need to see family and friends. Governments must act quickly to ensure that testing costs don’t stall a travel recovery”.

“If governments are not going to make testing free, at least they must ensure that there is no profiteering by testing companies at the expense of people who just want to get back to some form of normality in their life and travel habits. And that scrutiny should include governments themselves who, under no circumstances, should charge a tax for this critical service,” Walsh said.

BY  Emily Ashton

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. announced a fast-track immigration route for people who have won top awards including Nobel Prizes, Oscars and Golden Globes.

Changes to Britain’s “global talent” visa program mean those who hold qualifying prizes will no longer need to apply to one of six endorsing bodies, and can make a single visa application instead, the U.K. Home Office said in an emailed statement.

Award winners from across science, humanities, engineering, the arts and digital technology can take advantage of the new rules, the Home Office said.

“Winners of these awards have reached the pinnacle of their career and they have so much to offer the U.K.,” Home Secretary Priti Patel said in the statement.