International travel volumes have now fully recovered from the downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the upcoming World Cup poised to drive a surge in Canadian tourism, recent hantavirus and Ebola virus outbreaks remind us of the need to effectively manage travel-related public health risks in a world on the move.

Both outbreaks underscore how human mobility can play a critical role in the spread of deadly diseases, including pathogens with pandemic potential. As researchers on the Pandemics and Borders Project, we have spent the past six years studying the use of international travel measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other global public health emergencies. Lessons from COVID-19 on the effective use of international travel measures in managing serious infectious disease outbreaks are critical to ongoing pandemic readiness.

Key lessons from COVID-19 travel measures

COVID-19 upended previous scientific consensus that restricting international travel, to prevent cross-border spread of disease, should be an action of last resort. Restrictions were thought to yield limited, if any, public health benefits for most outbreaks. It is now recognized that:

Travel measures extend beyond restrictions or bans, and include: screening (for example, testing), quarantine and vaccination;

Early, stringent use of certain international travel measures — such as those adopted by New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea — was effective in slowing or reducing the introduction and spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants;

International travel measures adopted by........

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