EU decision and PCR test bottleneck: How Omikron makes travel easier and more difficult at the same time

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Val d'Aosta ski area: From February, vaccinated people no longer have to show a test when entering Italy

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Kisa Markiza / iStockphoto / Getty Images

As if traveling during the corona crisis wasn't complicated enough. Just looking at the entry conditions to Thailand, for example, makes the desire to go on vacation dwindle - if the rapid increase in infections caused by the omicron variant and the classification of almost all countries worldwide as high-risk areas have not already done so: PCR tests before and twice upon entry, Thai authorities require registration for an entry program and tracking app, health insurance with Corona coverage, and the list goes on.

The bottlenecks in the PCR test laboratories in Germany and the prioritization of the test persons could now also endanger the start of the holiday.

In the future, PCR tests will primarily be available for staff in clinics and nursing homes as well as for high-risk patients, and understandably not for vacationers, despite demands to the contrary from the travel industry.

Many travel countries, like Thailand, have made a PCR test in their home country a must for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered - including European countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic (in both countries there are exceptions for those who have been boosted) and Bulgaria.

This has already made bathing or skiing holidays more expensive;

After all, a family of four has to invest at least 200 euros in additional fun on the slopes or on the beach in common test stations.

PCR test within 35 minutes: 279 euros

Now the test shortage could delay departure or even prevent it altogether.

For example, if a test result is not available in good time before departure or before entry.

Canada, for example, requires a PCR test, for which samples must be taken no earlier than 72 hours before boarding a direct flight.

This requirement can sometimes just be met, including the time it takes to get to the airport, the flight and the transfer time.

If the conventional test laboratories cannot meet the promised time by which the result should be available in view of the omicron infection wave, the machine flies to the long-term destination without some of its passengers.

The solution: private test labs that quickly evaluate swabs on site at airports, for example. However, this has its price - at Frankfurt Airport, for example, it is 129 euros for a three-hour waiting time and 279 euros for a 35-minute waiting time; the offer has not been available at Hamburg Airport since January. If you want to treat yourself to a "3-hour RT-PCR quick test" elsewhere in the Hanseatic city, the bill can say "from €253.13 incl. VAT."

Many a tour operator has included a necessary PCR test in the price of a package tour, but so far the normal – and now often overloaded – laboratories have usually been involved in the evaluation.

Some have now "planned increased test capacities at private test centers for their travel guests and support them accordingly," reports the German Travel Association (DRV).

The industry association calls on politicians to ensure »that a lack of PCR test capacities does not become another travel obstacle«.

A PCR test is necessary for entry into numerous countries, for example in Africa, Asia or the Caribbean.

EU wants to make travel between member states easier

Within the EU, vaccinated or recovered people can usually cross the border without any test or only with a much cheaper rapid antigen test.

There are few exceptions – beyond Austria, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria:

• For example, in

  Denmark

  there is still a mandatory test (PCR or rapid antigen test) for all travelers – whether vaccinated, boosted, recovered or not.

  Parliament wants to decide by Friday whether it will be lifted.

  Sweden

  lifted them for vaccinated and recovered people in mid-January.

• Until at least February 9th, vaccinated people must present a PCR or antigen test

  when entering

  Portugal .

• In

  Cyprus

  , all travelers must present a negative PCR or rapid antigen test result upon crossing the border.

• And in December, in

  view of the omicron wave ,

  Italy also introduced an additional PCR or antigen test requirement, which also applies to those who have recovered and those who have been fully vaccinated.

  Since then, unvaccinated people have had to be quarantined for five days.

  From February, the country will make testing compulsory for travelers from other EU countries.

  According to a decree signed by Health Minister Roberto Speranza, the EU Corona passport should be sufficient from next Tuesday.

  At the same time, however, the validity of vaccination certificates will be reduced from nine to six months.

Italy's release follows a decision by the 27 EU member states on Tuesday to ease travel within the EU. "Travellers who are in possession of a valid EU digital corona certificate should not be subject to additional restrictions on their freedom to travel," it said in a statement. The certificate can include a full and booster vaccination, rapid PCR or antigen tests or the recovered status. It should also no longer matter where the journey starts from, i.e. what the infection rate is like in the country of departure.

However, the decision is only a recommendation, the EU countries largely have the say in health policy themselves.

The spread of the Omikron variant was the argument for relief here: if Omikron is already dominating everywhere anyway, isolation measures will no longer help.

Additional requirements are no longer justified because they "complicate travel throughout the EU," according to the Commission.