IATA chief says COVID-19 test data support easing of travel curbs

PARIS: Global airline body IATA stepped up its pressure on governments to ease travel restrictions on Wednesday, pointing to UK testing data that showed low incidence of COVID-19 in arriving passengers.

"These data tell us we can do better," IATA Director General Willie Walsh said, citing a 2.2% positive rate among 365,895 tests carried out in February-May, according to Britain's National Health Service.

"Universal restrictions on people are no longer needed," Walsh added.

Excluding passengers arriving from countries on Britain's higher-risk red list, the positive rate fell to 1.46%, according to the data cited by the International Air Transport Association. (Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Jan Harvey)