Pandemic Governance and International Health Regulations

 For previous PHEICs and during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended against the use of travel restrictions in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR). Yet throughout subsequent months and years, virtually all governments applied a broad range of travel-related measures to control the importation and onward spread of SARS-CoV-2. The near universal, frequently changing and prolonged use of such measures since early 2020 stands in stark contrast to what was envisioned when the IHR were revised in 2005, and in contested conflict with specific stipulations on interference in international traffic (“Article 43 Additional health measures”). One key thematic focus of our research explores the new realities which have emerged in terms of how and to what extent countries have implemented travel measures in response to COVID-19, and to what effect.