WHO says travel bans cannot be indefinite; countries must fight coronavirus

Bans on international travel cannot stay in place indefinitely, and countries are going to have to do more to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus within their borders, the World Health Organization said on Monday (July 27). A surge of infections has prompted countries to reimpose some travel restrictions in recent days, with Britain throwing the reopening of Europe’s tourism industry into disarray by ordering a quarantine on travellers returning from Spain. Only with strict adherence to health measures, from wearing masks to avoiding crowds, would the world manage to beat the Covid-19 pandemic, WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a virtual news briefing in Geneva.