Border restrictions have been a defining feature of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a public health emergency in January 2020, it recommended against travel or trade restrictions. By April 2020, all states had adopted border measures, and the WHO acknowledged that travel measures applied with other interventions could help manage COVID-19. The ubiquity of border restrictions challenged a core aim of the WHO's International Health Regulations (IHR)—that responses to COVID-19 avoid "unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade." The pandemic provides insights for how governments and the WHO should address border measures during future outbreaks.
School Authors: Michael Woldemariam
Other Authors: Yilma Woldgabreal