Source: ALTA
Given the recent announcements of new border closures, quarantines and requirements for travelers due to the Omicron variant, the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) calls on the governments of the Latin American and the Caribbean region to use a multi-layered approach to mitigate the risk of spread.
ALTA strongly recommends that States implement the biosafety recommendations for air transport compiled by the ICAO CART Group, whose updated documents were developed by government representatives and the airline industry. ALTA emphasizes that this is not the time to make decisions based on fear, especially when it has been shown that air transport is not a vector of contagion and that rapid tests are an efficient and safe way to control the spread of the virus.
The recovery of passenger air transport, which in the region reached nearly 70% in the month of September vs. September 2019, is a sample of the essential role that aviation plays for the safe and efficient transportation of the population.
It is imperative to implement multilayered measures based on scientific evidence to protect the population without stopping the economy of our countries, since this generates devastating effects for the population; even more so when there is evidence of a clear relation between higher vaccination rate and reduction of cases and between a higher vaccination rate and a lower mortality rate. The region of Latin America and the Caribbean has evolved positively in vaccination rates and, as of December 1, 74% of the population had been vaccinated with at least one dose and 59% with two doses (Our World in data).
ALTA expresses its support to the States as the priority is the health and safety of the population. For this reason, we reiterate applying the measures we have learned during the pandemic that have proven to work: the use of masks, social distancing, hand washing, vaccination. We are at the disposal of the States to work on the harmonized implementation of measures and the standardization of requirements for passengers so that traveling is increasingly seamless and safe.