Although many borders of the world because of the pandemic, several companies and organizations are working to create one “Covid passport”: that is, a digital document that allows you to check your health status with the government of any country you wish to visit. The idea is that in this way the international travel industry will recover little by little.
The International Air Transport Association (THERE IT IS, for its acronym in English) has just announced that Covid passport, called Travel pass, will come to America in March. In particular, the government of Panama and the airline Copa Airlines (of Panamanian origin) will participate in an initial test phase.
Other airlines around the world, such as Etihad (United Arab Emirates), Emirates, Air New Zealand or Qatar Airways, have started their tests. By the way, in August 2020, Etihad became the first airline to request PCR tests from all of its passengers around the world.
Photo: IATA
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How is the Travel Pass
In international use, the Travel pass It comes to you in the form of a free app for your Android or iPhone. Here you can save your data passport and results of Covid testing so that you can travel abroad more easily.
THERE IT IS has four major advantages of its own digital passport.
1. Governments can authenticate Covid-19 tests presented by international travelers. This leaves little room for fraud or confusion.
2. Airlines also use this platform to verify the authenticity of the evidence. Countries like the United States currently require your airline to have your Covid test before boarding. The company also has the option to share with you the information about any restrictions you should be aware of.
3. Authorized laboratories can issue standard digital certificates. There is no need to consult more lists than the ones you find here and there is no problem with the languages.
4. Speed up your passage through airports and immigration filters, without the need for paper or more contact. However, paper-based alternatives will be available for travelers without a telephone.
Ultimately, it can also work with information about vaccines.
The international association has clarified that the app will use data encryption so that only the information that the traveler decides is shared with governments and airlines.
Photo: IATA
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El CommonPass
As we said at the beginning of this note, there are several organizations working on digital platforms that would serve as one Covid passport worldwide.
CommonPass is another project, it is a collaboration between the Swiss organization Commons Project Foundation and the World Economic Forum.
This application generates a QR code when the traveler in question meets the necessary requirements to visit a country; allows governments to add their own criteria (such as a particular laboratory or additional questionnaire, for example) to approve the admission of tourists.
Read more: CommonPass, the Covid passport that has already started testing in the US.