Are digital health passports a good idea?
Thomson Reuters Foundation The rollout of the first batches of COVID-19 vaccines in Britain and the United States has reignited a debate around the possible use of digital health passports to ease the lockdowns that are crippling the global economy. Proponents say identifying people who are immune to the novel coronavirus or at lower risk […]
COVID tests should play bigger role in international travel – WHO expert
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters COVID tests should be more widely used in international travel than quarantines, the chair of the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee said on Friday. Didier Houssin, chair of the independent panel of experts advising WHO on the COVID-19 pandemic, said it was important for the UN agency to provide fresh guidance on safe […]
Asia-Pacific countries begin to ease pandemic-related travel bans, but hurdles remain
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Asia-Pacific countries including Singapore, Australia and Japan are gradually easing some international travel restrictions as coronavirus cases slow, in hopes of helping to revive their economies. International travel in Asia has collapsed during the pandemic due to border closures, with passenger numbers down 97 per cent in August, according to the Association of […]
Coronavirus in Africa: Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind continent’s low fatality rates from pandemic
ALEXANDER WINNING, of Reuters, reports on why coronavirus doesn’t appear to have hit Africa as hard as had been expected…
A Sustainable Life: Five ways to make your holidays more sustainable
As the world starts to open up again to travel, BRENDAN PADDISON and KARLA BOLUK, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at how to plan for more sustainable experiences…
Google travel data show lockdown fatigue in US, Australia; other countries stay home
Oakland, CaliforniaReuters More people stayed home in Brazil, Japan and Singapore in April as those countries’ novel coronavirus cases surged, while people in the United States and Australia returned to parks and jobs as infection rates flattened, data from Google show. The latest weekly update of aggregated travel patterns Google collected from its users’ phones […]
Australia to impose 14 day self-isolation on international travellers
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia will impose 14 day self-isolation on international travellers arriving from midnight Sunday and ban cruise ships from foreign ports for 30 days, mirroring restrictions in nearby New Zealand aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the new measures after a meeting with a newly formed […]
A SUSTAINABLE LIFE: EXPERIENCES AREN’T ALWAYS BETTER FOR THE PLANET THAN PRODUCTS – HERE’S HOW TO MAKE MEMORIES SUSTAINABLY
In an article first published on The Conversation, BRENDAN CANAVAN, of the University of Huddersfield, looks at why experiences aren’t always more sustainable than things…
‘Flight shame’ website spells out emissions toll on global climate
New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation Getting ready to cruise in first class from New York to Beijing? That will be 15.6 square metres of Arctic ice down the drain, thank you. Enjoy your flight. Such statistics detailing the environmental toll wrought by jet setting, or even just business travel, are the stuff of a […]
UNHCR launches campaign to raise awareness of distances travelled by people escaping persecution
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the huge distances refugees are forced to cover each year as they flee conflicts and persecution. The ‘2 Billion Kilometres to Safety’ campaign calls on people across the globe to join in collectively covering the approximate distance covered by refugees every […]