More nations around the world have started imposing restrictions on travelers from China amid concerns of a new COVID-19 virus epidemic.
understands that there have been reports of an increase in COVID-19 incidents in China, and as a result, Italy has placed travel restrictions on people arriving from China. On December 28, 2022, two flights arriving in Milan from China reportedly had 50% of their passengers test positive for COVID-19.
However, it was discovered that more nations, including the UK, France, and Spain, have joined the club of nations that need travelers entering from China to have a negative COVID-19 test result.
Due to the severity of the outbreak in China and questions around official data, the United States, India, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan have all imposed new travel restrictions on Chinese tourists.
Malaysia, Australia, and the Philippines are among the alleged additional nations that have ratified the new travel restrictions.
According to reports, Spain’s government released new COVID-19 guidelines for travelers arriving at its airports from China on Friday, December 30, 2022.
According to reports, Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias stated at a press conference that Spain would work closely with other European Union (EU) members to develop a single strategy.
Darias argued that the cooperation would enable a change of the requirements that travelers must meet right now in order to get the so-called “Digital COVID Certificate” from the EU.
The new action follows a meeting of the EU’s Health Security Committee last Thursday to discuss the bloc’s plan for containing the virus despite an increase in Chinese tourists after Beijing relaxed most of its travel restrictions.
However, the EU health committee, which is composed of representatives from health ministries across the union and is presided over by the European Commission, stated that it currently did not believe it was “justified” to introduce mandatory COVID-19 screenings for travelers from China across the EU.
The test will be necessary for passengers departing on direct flights from China and flights with stopovers, according to reports, and random tests will be conducted on passengers upon arrival. France has also asked that the test be completed by travelers fewer than 48 hours prior to departure.
Positive tests will reportedly be sequenced to look for novel varieties, according to a report from the French government.
On the other side, Germany declared that it was looking for a coordinated mechanism to track variations among European airports.
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Noting that such travelers will be needed to test negative for COVID-19 or demonstrate they have received a complete COVID-19 vaccination, the UK announced it will require travelers leaving China for Britain to additionally give proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding.
Meanwhile, early this morning, human rights attorney Femi Falana (SAN) urged the federal government to mandate the Covid-19 test for travelers arriving in Nigeria from China.
The federal government countered that limitations on visitors coming from China weren’t yet necessary.
