Covid Report Verification: New Restriction for Airports

The Covid-19 cases have drastically increased over time and as of February 6, 2021, 18,262 new cases were reported in the United Kingdom. The numbers are increasing every day and the bigger threat is the emerging variants of this virus. The first variant was identified in the UK and due to the same reason, travel restrictions have increased in different regions of the world. Italy, France, Greece, and Germany have also imposed strict regulations for all the passengers from the United Kingdom. For report verification, manual procedures have been adopted, however, they are incompetent in the digital world. Let’s take a deeper look at these new regulations and an automated solution that can help the travel sector.

A new and more lethal variant of the coronavirus B.1.1.7 was identified in the UK due to which more robust regulations have been imposed to keep the residents safe. According to the reports from the CDC, these new variants are increasing health hazards, so many countries are under strict lockdown. Among all other sectors, the travel industry has to bear with a lot of new regulations. Individuals who have been permitted by the law can travel from/to the UK.

The law enforcement agencies have passed regulations according to which every passenger has to submit Covid negative report upon arrival. The report should not be older than three days and without verification, no passenger will be allowed to stay in the country. Like the UK, many other countries have introduced the Covid report verification law.

Other Countries with New Travel Regulations

The following four countries have imposed the covid report verification system along with a few exceptions.

Italy

People from the UK can only enter Italy for official purposes or under absolute necessity and the “absolute necessity” must be declared in writing. Moreover, the covid negative test report must be submitted and arrivals have to take a rapid swab test or Covid test at the airport too. Lastly, passengers have to quarantine for 14 days irrespective of the test results.

Germany

Remote registration is mandatory and the information must be presented to the border authority. Arrivals who belong to high-risk countries must quarantine for 10 days. However, if the passenger takes the Covid test at the airport and it’s negative, the quarantine can end on day five.

Greece

Passenger Locator Form (PLF) must be completed at least 24 hours prior to the travel. In case someone does not fulfil the requirement will be subject to a 500 Euro fine or the Greek authorities will not permit the passenger’s entry into the country. A negative Covid test no older than 72 hours must be submitted. Upon arriving at the airport in Greece, passengers must take a Covid test. Self-isolation for 10 days is mandatory for everyone irrespective of the test result.

France

Only residents of France or people with essential reasons are allowed to travel. All UK travellers must present a negative Covid test report. This law is also applicable to children over 11 and the test must be carried out no more than three days before arrival. Furthermore, the UK arrivals must complete a sworn statement that clarifies that they are not suffering from any symptoms of the virus. Moreover, they must confirm in the statement that they haven’t been with anyone who has Covid symptoms in the preceding fortnight. Lastly, they must show a signed travel certificate that states the reason for travel.

How can Countries Comply with the Regulations?

The travel sector has to make sure none of the arrivals is allowed to enter the state without verification of the Covid test report. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in hefty fines for the authorities. To prevent these fines, airport authorities are performing manual Covid report verification. Unfortunately, that takes a lot of time and passengers have to wait for at least an hour for process completion, and the chances of errors are exceptionally high. The pitfalls of manual verification are making compliance with the new restriction a hassle for the travel sector.

Digital COVID Pass – AI-Powered COVID Test Verification

Fortunately, there is another way that can reduce the burden on airport staff and chances of errors as well. With the help of Digital COVID Pass verification, it will be easier for all the relevant authorities to authenticate reports within seconds. The real-time verification does not require human effort and the approximately 98.67% accuracy is ensured too. Shufti has introduced a state of the art feature of identity verification service. Our system can now scan the Covid report and extract the data in the MRZ or QR code in the report with the help of AI-powered OCR. In case someone has submitted a forged report, it will be identified in no time and the travel sector can ensure higher levels of safety.

Shufti’s AI-powered identity verification solution offers the Covid report verification feature too. Employing our IDV service will help you verify the identities of passengers and their Covid test results in a few seconds. Furthermore, real-time verification will provide 98.67% accurate results.

Summing It Up

All in all, the travel sector has to abide by a lot of rules and regulations due to the staggering numbers of coronavirus cases. New travel restrictions are in full swing and the industry is searching for better ways to comply with them. Due to the identification of coronavirus variants in the UK, airports have to verify the Covid negative reports of all the passengers. People cannot travel for recreational purposes. Moreover, arrivals from the UK in Italy, France, Germany, and Greece have to submit negative test results. Covid test will be performed at the airport and every passenger has to quarantine irrespective of the test results.

Get more information on the new travel restrictions from our experts.