WASHINGTON, DC — In a move that some are heralding as the beginning of a transition to an endemic phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced changes to its guidance that will allow most Americans to opt out of wearing masks indoors. The updated guidance, which is based on a change in the metrics the CDC uses to determine county-by-county risk levels, means that mask recommendations now apply to only about half of U.S. counties.
“We are in a stronger position today as a nation, with more tools to protect ourselves and our community from COVID-19, such as vaccination, booster shots, broader access to testing, availability of high-quality masks, accessibility to new treatments, and better ventilation,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing announcing the change.
“We’ve all been hoping to get to this point where the pandemic would start to slow down,” said Patty Olinger, executive director of the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC). “Here in the United States, our overall vaccination rates continue to increase. We’re at a turning point in the pandemic, a turning point we knew we would eventually reach.”
As a result, most states have dropped their COVID-related restrictions. COVID-19 restrictions are also easing internationally. On February 28, France dropped mask requirements in most venues where people must show a vaccine passport to enter. A vaccine passport is still required for anyone 16 or older who wants to enter a trade show venue.
The success of Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona in the first week of March 2022, is a positive sign of the easing of European restrictions on trade shows. With Spain now allowing fully vaccinated travelers from around the world to enter without proof of a negative COVID test, more than 61,000 people from nearly 200 countries flocked to the physical portion of the show at Fira Barcelona, according to show organizers GSMA. While that’s down from the 109,000 attendees they attracted in 2019, it’s a big increase from the 20,000 who attended in person last year. After going entirely virtual in 2020, MWC was held in a hybrid format to accommodate both in-person and online attendees.
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Even as restrictions ease in the U.S. and elsewhere, show organizers still have to answer questions from exhibitors, attendees and their own staff, Olinger said. Are we ready to ease restrictions? Can I go out without a mask? Should we continue to clean, sanitize and disinfect? What do I need to know about ongoing ventilation requirements? “These are all valid questions that show organizers need to take seriously,” Olinger said. “We need to remain vigilant about the safety issues that affect our exhibitors, our employees and our show attendees. Infection prevention, now and in the future, is something we need to add to the imperative going forward.”
She added that associations such as GBAC/ISSA, IAEE and IAVM have provided guidance to help trade show organizers and the venues they use, from convention and conference centers to stadiums and arenas, answer these questions. “GBAC STAR accredited facilities and service providers that serve the show are prepared to provide the services needed to meet the needs of the show or convention,” she said.
Regardless of regulations, “hand hygiene and health-related cleaning programs that include disinfecting high-touch points are here to stay with us,” Olinger added. “Indoor air quality programs that promote healthy buildings will also be a priority now and into the future.”
WHO considers international passport
The World Health Organization (WHO) is also considering a measure that could make international travel easier. According to Politico, the WHO is convening a group of international experts to develop a “trust framework” that would allow countries to verify whether vaccination certificates are legitimate, Brian Anderson, chief medical officer of digital health at MITRE and co-founder of VCI, which supports the SMART health card, told Politico.
This could mean that the current patchwork of international standards related to vaccination requirements could be coordinated into a kind of “international vaccine passport” that would facilitate travel from one country to another, similar to the digital COVID certificate already in place in European Union member states.
Contact Patty Olinger at (678) 430-1044 or pattyo@issa.com