Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Fifteen days in December

Capture and analysis of Omicron-related travel restrictions

Bibliographic Data

ID21881349
AuthorsJordan Schermerhorn (0000-0002-5765-1838, Georgetown University), Alaina Case (Talus Analytics, Boulder, Colorado, USA), Ellie Graeden (0000-0002-1265-9756, Georgetown University), Justin Kerr (0009-0001-1891-325X, Talus Analytics, Washington, District of Columbia, USA), Mackenzie Moore (0000-0001-6242-2928, Georgetown University), Siobhan Robinson-Marshall (Georgetown University), Trae Wallace (Talus Analytics, Boulder, Colorado, USA), Emily Woodrow (Georgetown University), Rebecca Katz (0000-0002-2831-0866, Georgetown University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume7
Issue3
Pagese008642
Publication date2022-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBMJ Global Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2059-7908 • E-ISSN: 2059-7908
PublisherBMJ (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1136/bmjgh-2022-008642
PMID35296466
OpenAlexW4220832092
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited3

Following the identification of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in late November 2021, governments worldwide took actions intended to minimise the impact of the new variant within their borders. Despite guidance from the WHO advising a risk-based approach, many rapidly implemented stringent policies focused on travel restrictions. In this paper, we capture 221 national-level travel policies issued during the 3 weeks following publicisation of the Omicron variant. We characterise policies based on whether they target travellers from specific countries or focus more broadly on enhanced screening, and explore differences in approaches at the regional level. We find that initial reactions almost universally focused on entry bans and flight suspensions from Southern Africa, and that policies continued to target travel from these countries even after community transmission of the Omicron variant was detected elsewhere in the world. While layered testing and quarantine requirements were implemented by some countries later in this 3-week period, these enhanced screening policies were rarely the first response. The timing and conditionality of quarantine and testing requirements were not coordinated between countries or regions, creating logistical complications and burdening travellers with costs. Overall, response measures were rarely tied to specific criteria or adapted to match the unique epidemiology of the new variant

Business · Conditionality · Disease · Economics · Environmental health · Political science · Public economics · Quarantine · Troubleshooting · Computer Science · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Medicine · SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research · Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

  • Pre-departure PCR testing of travellers for Sars-CoV-2 was an effective tool in limiting transmission in Greenland during the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic

    Open Access•Mie Møller, Kasper Sommerlund Moestrup et al.•BMC Public Health•2025

  • The global dynamic transmissibility of Covid-19 and its influencing factors

    Open Access•Hongjian Wang, Yajia Lan•BMC Public Health•2023

  • The WHO Disease Outbreak News during the Covid-19 pandemic

    Open Access•Ciara M Weets, Colin J Carlson et al.•PLOS Global Public Health•2025

  • A Virus That Knew Borders. Covid-19 Patients Zero Worldwide and the Strength of Transnationalism

    R Lecler•International Journal of Sociology•2023

  • What to do with the new molecular publics

    Open Access•Stephen Molldrem•BioSocieties•2025

  • Zoonotic anxieties

    Open Access•Max D López Toledano, Hari Basnet et al.•Medical Anthropology Quarterly•2025

  • Dismantling Colonial Laughter

    Open Access•Izuu Nwankwọ•Journal of Black Studies•2024

  • Evidence of the effectiveness of travel-related measures during the early phase of the Covid-19 pandemic

    Open Access•Karen A Grépin, Tsi-Lok Ho et al.•BMJ Global Health•2021

  • Managing borders during public health emergencies of international concern

    Open Access•K Lee, Karen A Grépin et al.•Globalization and Health•2021

Unique citing works7
Citations per year2,33
Citation span2023 - 2025 (3)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 7
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae