Dutch Discussion on Public transport
On 12 June, the Dutch Government decided that airline travel could commence operations as usual, based on scientific advice from the Dutch Ministry of Health. The advice had 3 main references:
- COVID-19 Aviation Health Safety Protocol. Guidance for the management of airline passengers in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Issue no: 1.1 Issue date: 21/05/2020.
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Considerations for travel-related measures to reduce spread of COVID-19 in the EU/EEA. ECDC: Stockholm; 2020.
- RAGIDA MERS-CoV.
Reference 2 clearly states the travel-related risks for COVID19:
“ Travel and tourism could lead to an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission amplification in at least two ways. The first is related to mobility of people and the risk of transmission following arrival at the point of destination, and the second to the gathering of people at various venues such as airports, resorts and similar settings. Public health measures applied specifically to or within the travel sector are intended to minimise the likelihood of COVID- 19 transmission on board various conveyances, at sites of embarkation/disembarkation and at destinations.”
This means that
- ECDC recognizes the increased COVID19 risk due to:
- gathering people at airports
- transmission on board
- transmission at sites of embarkation and disembarkation
- transmission risk at destinations
The document continues: “Travel-related introduction and tourism-related spread within the EU/EEA and the UK contributed substantially to the transmission across and within countries during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic” Since the Netherlands is returning to the containment phase, with an aim to reduce endemic transmission as much as possible (though this has never been defined as the strategic goal by the Dutch governing coalition), travel related introduction and tourism related spread are again to be expected becoming substantial contributors to COVID19 transmission.
