Ticket, Passport, Blood Sample: Soon You’ll Have to Prove Your Health to Everyone

Get ready for Gattaca

David Leibowitz
OneZero

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A health worker takes a blood sample on a mobile coronavirus testing unit in Cologne, Germany. Photo: NurPhoto/Getty Images

On April 15, passengers bound to Tunisia from Dubai International Airport were tested for Covid-19 right in the terminal. In doing so, Emirates becomes the first airline to conduct rapid tests for passengers, providing results in 10 minutes.

This is just the beginning of the “new normal.” With a vaccine at least 12–18 months away, we’re likely to see proof of noninfection requirements to gain entry to all manner of places — for work, entry to retail stores, congregating in places of worship. Is this the key to getting back to business? The government of Chile thinks so. Chile has just become the first country to distribute “immunity cards” to get back to work. This could be the genesis of a global certification card or an “Immunity Passport,” either physical or digital, to demonstrate fitness for entry.

Remember that scene in the movie Gattaca?

Clip: Gattaca, 1997

The 1997 film Gattaca painted an eerie vision of a dystopian future. In the movie, corporate drones have their urine or blood tested daily prior to entering the…

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David Leibowitz
OneZero

Appeared in: Xbox Mag, Forbes, CNN, OneZero & industry rags. @tech, industry, running. On TikTok (AI): @dsleib X (other stuff): @dleib