EU countries will meet next week to discuss a joint response to travellers from China amid concern over the country's explosion of Covid cases, incoming EU presidency holder Sweden announced Saturday.
"Sweden is seeking a common policy for the entire EU when it comes to the introduction of possible entry restrictions", the Swedish government said in a statement.
Stockholm, which takes over the rotating EU presidency on January 1, said it had called a meeting of the Council's crisis management mechanism IPCR for Wednesday.
"It is important that we quickly get the necessary measures in place", it said.
Beijing has abruptly ended its draconian "zero Covid" policy, resulting in an explosion of infections in the country, which has prompted several EU member states to impose Covid tests on travellers from China.
France, Italy and Spain this week imposed Covid testing requirements. Germany, while saying it saw no need to impose routine tests, is seeking a coordinated system to monitor variants across European airports.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), one of the EU's health agencies, said Thursday that systematic screening of travellers was currently "unjustified".
It cited the level of immunity in Europe and the presence on the continent of the same variants as in China.
The European branch of the International Airports Council said on Saturday that imposing restrictions for travellers from China country was "neither scientifically justified nor risk based".
The federation, which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries, said the identification of possible new variants that could emerge in China could be detected with genomic sequencing of airport waste water analysis, without the need to test travellers.
European Covid checks on China arrivals 'unjustified': industry body
Brussels (AFP) Dec 31, 2022 –
The European branch of the International Airports Council on Saturday denounced Covid checks imposed by several European countries on passengers coming from China as "scientifically unjustified" and "uncoordinated".
Beijing has abruptly ended its draconian "zero COVID" policy, resulting in an explosion of infections in the country.
In response France, Italy, Spain and Britain, along with the United States and South Korea, decided this week to impose Covid testing requirements on travellers from China.
"These unilateral actions are at odds with all the experience and evidence gained over the past three years… imposing other restrictions for travellers from this country is neither scientifically justified nor risk based," ACI Europe said in a statement.
The federation, which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries, was highly critical of the "chaotic" health restrictions in different countries at the height of the pandemic.
We are once again plunging back into a patchwork of unjustified and uncoordinated travel restrictions, which have no basis in scientific fact… These travel restrictions do not work and current arrangements for EU coordination have failed once again," said Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe's director general.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), one of the EU's health agencies, said Thursday that systematic screening of travellers was "unjustified" given the level of immunity in Europe and the presence on the continent of the same variants as in China.
As for the identification of possible new variants that could emerge in China, increased surveillance with genomic sequencing can be carried out through airport waste water analysis, without the need to test travellers, ACI Europe said.
The precautionary measures taken by several states are "understandable" given the lack of information provided by Beijing, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Morocco to ban travellers from China over Covid spread
Rabat (AFP) Dec 31, 2022 –
Morocco said Saturday it will ban entry to all travellers from China, where cases of Covid-19 have exploded.
Other nations, including France, Britain and Morocco's cross-strait neighbour Spain, have said they will require negative Covid tests for all travellers from mainland China.
But the Moroccan foreign ministry said in a statement that authorities in the North African country "decided to forbid access to territory of the Kingdom of Morocco for all travellers, whatever their nationality, coming from the People's Republic of China."
The ban will take effect on January 3 and last until further notice, "in order to avoid a new wave of contaminations in Morocco and all its consequences," the ministry said.
China said in December that it would end mandatory quarantine for people arriving in the country and that it had abandoned strict measures to contain the virus.
Canada to require negative Covid tests for China arrivals: govt
Ottawa (AFP) Dec 31, 2022 –
Canada said Saturday it would require travelers arriving from China to show a negative Covid-19 test, following similar moves by the United States and others.
Given the rapid rise in coronavirus infections in China, Canada will require travelers boarding a flight from China to show a negative Covid test taken no more than two days before their departure with their boarding pass, according to a statement.
Ottawa said the measure was "in response to the surge of Covid-19 in the People's Republic of China and given the limited epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data available on these cases."
The rule will come into force from January 5 and be reassessed after 30 days.
After nearly three years, China has said it will drop stringent foreign travel curbs next week — despite surging cases, and amid concerns over the accuracy of its data reporting.
The Canadian government said it would also test wastewater from all international flights landing in Toronto or Vancouver to monitor for new variants.
