04.06.2020 – 15:18
Mediaform Informationssysteme GmbH
Reinbek (ots)
Summer holidays in many European countries start in the next few weeks. To enable travel within Europe again, the German government plans to lift the worldwide travel warning for tourists for 31 European countries from 15 June 2020 onwards. The intention is for the travel warnings in force up to now to be replaced by travel guidelines for specific countries. Other European countries, e.g. Italy, Spain or Greece, are also discussing entry conditions designed to allow them to open for tourist travel in the near future. The EU Commission is currently working on a uniform European regulation. This could be based on a test for SARS-CoV-2 carried out before the journey starts, whose negative finding serves as a so-called Health Passport and is accepted as a valid document for entry into many European countries.
As a provider of recording and identification solutions with accompanying data management, and a partner of medical laboratories and clinics for many years, the Mediaform group of companies is currently working on suggested solutions to implement an EU Corona (SARS-CoV-2) Health Passport in practice. A corresponding concept paper – including layout and data contents – has already been designed and developed with technical support from German specialist laboratory doctors.
What might it actually look like? In future, anyone who intends to travel abroad within Europe will undergo a SARS-CoV-2 test before departure. The nose and throat smear sample is then sent to an accredited specialist laboratory where specialist laboratory doctors carry out an examination for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The result of the examination for direct detection of the virus (PCR – Polymerase Chain Reaction) is documented in the report of the laboratory’s medical finding. This procedure is already established in medical practices and laboratories, and satisfies medical quality requirements.
The laboratory’s finding can be communicated either by electronic transmission or in paper form. This involves creating a Health Passport together with the report of the medical laboratory’s finding and a plastic card in credit card format integrated into it. The document and the plastic card have security features to prevent copying.
As Jörg Weber, Managing Director of the Mediaform group of companies explains: „In addition, the digital Health Passport can simply be scanned via a smartphone using a QR barcode, and stored locally on the smartphone.“
The advantage: within Europe, doctors and laboratories work according to the same high standards, so tests can proceed in a standardised way throughout Europe. Thus a negative SARS-CoV-2 finding before commencing a journey to a foreign country statistically reduces the risk of infection, and could act as a legitimised entry document.
According to Weber: „Up to now, travellers needed to pay for the required Health Passport, including the laboratory test, as a private expense. In the medium term, however, travel agencies or airlines could expand the services they offer, and undertake the organisation in collaboration with laboratories in order to carry out tests for travellers.“
Internet: eu-healthpass.eu/en
Contact:
Mediaform Informationssysteme GmbH
Jörg Weber
phone: +49 (0)40 727360 16
E-Mail: j.weber@mediaform.de
Original content of: Mediaform Informationssysteme GmbH, transmitted by news aktuell
