A Digital Health Pass that may Ease International Air Travel

A Switzerland based public interest foundation, the Common Projects, in coordination with the World Economic Forum has come up with a standardised digital format for COVID test results. The app was put to test on October 21.

Passengers of the United Airlines flight from London Heathrow Airport to the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey have volunteered for the initial test which has yielded successful results.

Cathay Pacific, a Hong Kong airline, the US Customs and Border Patrol, and the Centers for Disease Control, also played an instrumental part in the development of the app.

The standard COVID results provided on the app will enable passengers to meet the necessary safety requirements of their destination. This will ease the paperwork of the visitor as well as quicken the process for international airlines.

COVID test results in regional languages conducted by unknown labs were an issue for airlines who weren't sure about the credibility of such results. It is hoped that CommonPass, which will be a universal digital health pass, will solve this concern.

Ideally, passengers would download the app, and get themselves tested at a participating lab which will create an online account for the user. The result from the lab will be pulled into this digital account by the user by logging into the app. These results would then be shown by the user at both departure and arrival points.

However, there are several concerns surrounding the app, including the fact that asymptomatic passengers could also be declared COVID negative by the rapid tests.