World: IOM COVID-19 Points of Entry Analysis August 20, 2020 – IOM Regional Office for the European Economic Area, the European Union and NATO
A total of 179,160 have succumbed to the Covid-19 disease in the European Economic Area region (EEA) as of 3 September 2020 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The outbreak of the virus has affected global and regional mobility in the form of various travel disruptions and restrictions. To better understand how the pandemic affects the mobility at the Points of Entry (PoEs), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has developed an online tool and database which tracks changed in mobility at Points of Entry (airports, land and blue border crossing points). This includes preparedness and response measures to prevent, protect against, control and assist in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR). Among the mobility changes tracked by IOM are: 1) Movement restrictions on entry and/or exit, 2) Changes in visa requirements, 3) Restrictions applied to certain nationalities to disembark at this location, 4) Changes in identification documents needed to disembark, 5) Medical measures in place such as Health Staffing/Medical Personnel, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), Infection prevention and control (IPC) and Surveillance and Referral.
As of 20 August 2020, data was collected on 808 Points of Entry in 28 countries/territories/areas across the European Economic Area. These locations include: 478 land border crossings points, 193 airports, and 137 blue border crossing points (including sea, river and lake ports). This work is based on the information collected by IOM Country offices in the region. This PoE brief analysis provides an overview of the changes of impact on operational status and mobility restrictions over time, between April and August 2020. It is important to note that not all data on PoEs have been updated every month meaning that the trend displayed does not necessarily represent the current situation of all PoEs. Furthermore, in April 764 PoEs were assessed, in May, 786, in June, 787, in July, 795, and in August a total of 808 PoEs were assessed, hence reaching the highest number of PoEs assessed during the five-month period.
