COVID-19 and International Travel for Sport information sheet
With all restrictions for international travel being lifted in most countries, it is still important for athletes, coaches and sport organisations to consider the risks that travel may pose for athlete health and availability.
If you are planning travel overseas competitions, please review the AIS Overseas Travel, COVID-19 and other viral illness information sheet.
Individuals are able to travel internationally, but the rules for other countries are ever changing in the pandemic environment. It is recommended that all athletes and other sport organisation personnel review the Australian government regulations for international travel requirements regularly prior to departing and whilst overseas. The federal government provides guidance on any restrictions in relation to international travel on the australia.gov.au website, opens in a new tab.
State and Territory governments have varying quarantine or isolation requirements for returning international travellers. All athletes and teams need to be aware of the state requirements, opens in a new tab before making travel arrangements and be aware that these are subject to change rapidly.
Based on their individual circumstances, sports should take prudent steps with regard to test events, international competitions and training camps. The Smart Traveller, opens in a new tab web page provides advice regarding the current travel advice for Australians. This will include an overall recommendation and specific note of COVID-19 contribution if this is applicable.
Only with specific government exemption should a sporting team to travel to this location for training and competition purposes.
Reconsider your need to travel
A concerning and elevated risk has been identified and travel in most instances should be avoided by sporting teams.
There may be instances where appropriate risk mitigation strategies can be put in place to support travel. These can be identified using the COVID-19 Decision-Making Framework for International Travel .
Expect these risk mitigation strategies to include significant coordination from your Chief Medical Officer, insurance company and local health authorities.
Exercise a high degree of caution
Use the COVID-19 Decision-Making Framework for International Travel to evaluate the need and benefits of travel, risks associated with travel and identify suitable risk mitigation strategies.
Travel may proceed if sufficient risk mitigation strategies can be put in place. This is likely to include travelling with a team doctor, minimising team size, minimising duration of stay, confirmation of travel insurance coverage.
Teams should have a strategy to monitor risk factors and respond to significant changes.
An early exit plan should be agreed upon prior to departure, including the threshold required for triggering an early departure.
Exercise normal safety precautions
Sports should still work through the COVID-19 Decision-Making Framework for International Travel in the current setting given the rapidly changing situation.
Where possible risk mitigation strategies should be implemented, these may include travelling with a team doctor, minimising team size, minimising duration of stay, confirmation of travel insurance coverage.
The issues around COVID-19 are complex and create difficulty when planning international travel. Apart from issues of health, sporting organisations need to take in to account factors such as medical support, infection spread trends, travel restrictions to the initial destination and the possibility that spending time in the initial destination may restrict opportunities to travel to secondary destinations. Travel to some countries may result in members of the group being reclassified by health authorities into an ‘elevated risk’ category when returning to Australia.
A risk to benefit analysis when travelling to areas affected by COVID-19 should be conducted prior to departure. ___SQUIZ_FILE_ID___:955437 (File:___SQUIZ_FILE_ID___:955437)
Once travel restrictions have been removed the decision for a sporting team to travel internationally should be made on a case by case basis carefully balancing the benefits, risks and risk mitigation options. A framework to help National Sporting Organisations and teams work through their options should include at least the following:
Benefits
Why is the team travelling?
What is the specific aim of the training camp or competition?
Is the travel optional, important or necessary to achieve the overall objectives?
Are there any suitable lower risk locations or events available that can provide the same or similar benefit?
What is lost by not travelling to the intended ’elevated-risk’ location?
Risks
How many people are in the travelling party and how long will the team be together?
What are the current known risks and travel recommendations for the location you are going to?
What are the current known risks and travel recommendations for adjacent locations in the region you are going to?
What has been the recent rate of change for these locations?
What are the key destinations and events for your team in the foreseeable future? Would the presence in an ‘elevated-risk’ location make travel to other locations more difficult, secondary to mandatory quarantine periods?
Are there likely to be updates to the current travel recommendations? Formal recommendations from government departments will lag hours to days as they rely on indicator-based surveillance systems such as the WHO daily situation reports. One approach to monitoring this lag period include event-based surveillance tools such as MEDISYS, opens in a new tab used by the European CDC.
How well is the destination medical system coping?
Will you have a doctor travelling with your team?
Are the financial resources available to pay for emergency flights back to Australia if required, noting that such flights are likely to be at first and business class rates.
What impact will a 14 day supervised hotel quarantine have on the physical preparation for the next event?
It is known that respiratory tract infections can spread rapidly within a sporting team once a team member has acquired an illness. Give due consideration to favouring a compact team size to limit overall team exposure.
Can the time spent in ‘elevated-risk’ locations be minimised?
Are there any suitable lower risk locations or events available that can provide the same benefit?
What access to medical support and equipment will you have should an athlete become unwell or be suspected to have COVID-19? Other (non-medical) health professionals should not be expected to coordinate or provide medical care.
Understand that actively unwell team members may have their travel interrupted by the increased screening for fevers at immigration check points.
Confirm that current travel insurance will cover local medical treatment and evacuation if required.
This framework is not intended to be an exhaustive or prescriptive decision-making tool. It is intended to highlight the specific needs and challenges for teams who are considering international travel to destinations of elevated risk of COVID-19, without formal travel restriction.
Prior to travelling overseas for training camps and competitions:
Make an appointment with your regular doctor prior to departure to ensure that your vaccinations are up-to-date and that you will have enough of your regular medications with the appropriate documentation for your entire trip and at least an additional week.
The current situation with travel restrictions internationally is fluid and can change rapidly. Check the Smart Traveller website, opens in a new tab regularly prior to departure as well as the immigration department of the country you will travel to next. It is best to have in place contingency travel plans with the ability to change flights if needed.
Masks are an extra precaution to protect against COVID-19 in areas with community transmission. Check your local state and territory advice about mask recommendations and requirements. Masks can be particularly useful in situations where physical distancing is difficult such as on public transport.