The travelers blacklist: must they present a Covid-19 test to travel?

For the past few months, we have lived in uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and when we refer to the world of aviation, we are definitely talking about an uncertain future. However, many countries, airports and airlines have already been preparing to take whatever steps are necessary to revive the aviation industry.

So, those who wish to fly soon, should familiarize themselves with the security protocols that are applied within airports and on board aircraft, as well as the regulations dictated by the countries they want to visit to reduce the spread of the disease.

First of all, all travelers must wear face masks during their stay at airports and during flight time, they must disinfect or wash their hands regularly, in the security control and luggage check-in, a minimum distance of one meter and a half, among other necessary actions.

But, complying with all these biosecurity measures may not be enough to travel freely. Countries such as France, Germany and Haiti will require coronavirus tests to travelers from areas at risk.

In the case of France, there is a “red list” drawn up by the Ministry of Health, which includes 16 countries. Passengers from the United States, Panama, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, must present a negative diagnostic test for coronavirus before boarding the plane to France, while those who wish to travel from Brazil, Peru, Turkey, India, Israel, South Africa, Kuwait, Qatar, Serbia, Algeria, Madagascar and Oman to the European country, may undergo the medical test upon arrival in French territory.

“We know that in a certain number of these countries there is no detection strategy and that access to tests is difficult, so we have decided to generalize tests on arrivals,” said French Prime Minister Jean Castex.

 Castex reported that all airports will have independent routes to receive passengers from the aforementioned countries, with a capacity to perform 3,000 diagnostic tests per day. In the event that a person tests positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in France, they must remain isolated for at least two weeks.

 So far, the authorities of Germany and Haiti have not released the list of countries that they consider to be with a high incidence of coronavirus, despite this, they maintain their faithful commitment to isolate all those who give a positive result to rapid tests for Covid-19, which will be made to passengers arriving in the country.