CommonPass - Is this the light at the end of the tunnel?
 

It feels like with enough traction and attention this could be the new normal / way forward. Right now countries are just operating independently - could the below be the new recognised way of allowing travel to resume? One system recognised by all countries (or most)?

Waiting for countries to start working together to reopen borders is pointless - bureaucrats don't fix anything. It takes entrepreneurs to look at a problem and come up with a solution - could this be it? Should the major airlines get round the table and take a serious look at this and decide "were going to back this and push for its implementation'?

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/trave...tl-ldn-vpx.cnn

Airlines have been pushing for something - anything - and no one has done anything. I doubt this app will change anything: it’s abundantly clear that governments have no intention, or bandwidth or capacity, to tackle travel at present.

Especially when we are seeing either local or now even full national restrictions on travel/even lockdowns.

It's a struggle to get even bilateral government agreements done so as to coordinate better and create travel bubbles even in normal times. More multilateral government arrangements to get this done on a transcontinental basis? Not going to happen anytime soon when even the EU/EEA countries struggle to coordinate better among just themselves so as to create durable travel bubbles.

The light at the end of the tunnel will come when the prevalence of the virus decreases, whether it's by everyone getting it and recovering/dying, and/or efficacious vaccines. An app does not solve the underlying problem.

The problem is that almost all experts have agreed that this virus isn't going away next year, or even the year after that. A vaccine will help, but because of people refusing to take it, we probably won't be "safe" until well into 2022.

We've seen clear evidence that airlines cannot wait that long. They will go under insofar as not being able to recover. Something needs to....has to happen before then that will allow some level of transcontinental travel.

A big part of the puzzle that has to be solved isn't just the travel part, there has to be a reason to go as well. With pre-flight testing, aggressive mask enforcement, and other protocols we czn make air travel one of the safer things that you can do right now. But that doesn't do me any good if once I get to my destination there is nothing much to do beyond sit in a room in a different place than where I started. It's important to have that travel in place still because people still have to travel for various reasons, but that isn't enough to fill up multiple planes every day of the week profitably.

Governments have a lot on their plates right now, trying to prevent their health systems being overwhelmed by sheer numbers of people with covid. Travel should be way down the list of priorities, and leisure travel should probably be banned completely until we get control of things again.

All Commonpass seems to do is take your results, upload them to some part of the internet, then give you a QR code to access some or all of that information (the article isn't specific on those details). They frame this as fixing the problem of standardizing test results, which as far as I can tell was never a problem to start. I don't see why governments really would want or need this instead of the current paper test results, assuming that they let you fly at all.

Harder to counterfeit.

I haven't heard of counterfeit tests being a significant problem and I don't know if Commonpass will help if people are actively trying to be dishonest.

Many details are either unclear or missing which make it difficult to actually say how useful it is and whether governments will accept it:
- Does the passenger or the testing facility upload results? Seems to be either but if the passenger does it then how is it trusted?
- How are test results verified by the app?
- Can it do anything about false negatives?
- What does the QR code actually link to or say?
- What data do they actually store and display? They freely throw around the words 'privacy' and 'trusted' but with no explicit mention of what is stored, displayed, or their website/server security.

From looking at some of the info out there this app looks like the first step. Govs have imposed quarantines as they didn't know how to deal with this pandemic. I think the app could be a way for them to lift or reduce the quarantines if used correctly. It's impossible to have zero risk when it comes to travel - however the app could be a way to prove you tested negative before departure and arrival at an approved facility and thus have a reduced or no quarantine.

It looks like it would also regulate which labs are approved for such tests and help avoid the below...

https://egyptindependent.com/egyptia...-certificates/

Define "leisure" and "business".

I've cancelled all business travel but I've family around Europe. Seeing them would constitute "leisure" but for me it's not and it's something I'd very much like to do. I've got newborn nephews I haven't been able to see, I've got elderly relatives I might not be able to see again and so on.

And I'm going OT here but... the one question I have is why haven't we invested more in health? If we are lacking beds, ventilators and so on again, why the bloody hell didn't governments invest more in those between May and now?

I'm still convinced testing (quick, cheap, reliable and frequent) represents the light at the end of the tunnel. Bars/Gyms/Restaurants/Tourism/Countries cannot fully open up because both asymptomatic and symptomatic people may spread COVID-19 when they visit, which later on will overwhelm healthcare services (as well as causing long term illness and death, not just from COVID-19). Identify and isolate the less than 1% that may spread COVID-19, then we have solved the problem.

Once the testing challenge is solved then an app or international compatibility is the next step.

I wish they would introduce rapid covid test at arrivals, so people can start to travel. There are many reasons people would like to travel, and governments should really try to set-up a system to aid this. Vaccine won't change much. It will take several more years to figure out their efficacy, how long immunity is for, vaccinate enough people etc.