testing capacity couldn’t support it. no use doing this when the results come a week later. if this was a requirement earlier everyone would have complained it was just theater and not helping
Maybe politicians should bite the bullet sometimes and do stuff that will not be immediately understood by every citizen.
Even without tests being widely available it would have been wise to require all arrivals to quarantine, as Taiwan has done with great success.
Yeah, sure, that would have been a nuisance for quite a few people and painful for the airline industry, true, but nowhere near as annoying and painful as things have ended up now.
India has had this requirement for a long time now (more than 6 months IIRC). If you don't have the negative test, you need to quarantine at preselected hotels near the airport after arrival. Most international airports now also offer on arrival tests.
In most countries they just want a negative test from the origin country, so the country being visited doesn't have to spend a test for the tourist. But it's not bulletproof, if someone tests false negative and flies and infects a few others.
Other countries (Taiwan, NZ?) quarantine you for 14 days on arrival, and also test you...
NZ currently requires a negative test if you are coming from the UK or US as well as 14 day quarantine for arrivals from anywhere (with more tests). You can also only return if you are a NZ citizen or permanent resident or you get some kind of special dispensation (notable recipients of these include film crews and America's Cup sailors).
I’m certain we could have figured out something earlier. We spend several billion dollars annually on an organization with a singular mandate to do so.
