WHO recommends lifting or easing int'l traffic bans

The World Health Organization (WHO) advised its member states on Wednesday to lift or ease international traffic bans although it still considers the COVID-19 pandemic a major concern.

The WHO Emergency Committee presented a number of recommendations to the WHO director general, who decided that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The committee said that proof of vaccination against COVID-19 should not be used as the only pathway or condition permitting international travel, given limited global access to and inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

It also advised countries to conduct epidemiological investigations of SARS-CoV-2 transmission at the human-animal interface and targeted surveillance on potential animal hosts and reservoirs.

The committee called for real-time monitoring and data-sharing on SARS-Cov-2 infection, transmission and evolution in animals, noting it will assist the global understanding and timely identification of the virus and the assessment of their public health risks.