Member states of the European Union have been advised to increase coronavirus checks on travellers arriving from China, including requiring a recent negative test for the virus, asking passengers to wear masks, random tests on arrival and screening wastewater from incoming flights.
The recommendations were made yesterday after an EU meeting to co-ordinate a joint response to a sudden influx of visitors from China at a time when the virus is spreading fast in the world’s most populous nation.
Beijing scrapped most of its pandemic restrictions on December 7 last year, effectively abandoning the rigorous zero-tolerance Covid policy it had maintained for three years. It will further loosen restrictions by opening its borders from Sunday, prompting many countries to re-impose restrictions not seen since the height of the pandemic.
From today, Britain will require a pre-departure negative Covid-19 test for passengers from China, although passengers arriving in the UK will not face compulsory tests on arrival.
There have been fears that unmonitored arrivals from China could introduce a new coronavirus variant or sub-variant, and EU countries and the World Health Organisation had also expressed concerns that Beijing was not sharing enough information about its outbreak.
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Other countries imposing checks include the US, Japan, India, and Thailand. The recommendations from a meeting of 27 EU member states are not yet binding.
Experts believe that tens of millions of people in China have Covid-19, predominantly the highly infectious Omicron variant. In Beijing, it is estimated that 80 per cent of its 22 million citizens have been infected. In Shanghai, a metropolis of 28 million, Chen Erzhen, a vice-president of Ruijin Hospital, told state media that the infection rate may have reached 70 per cent by the end of last year.
“The scope of the spread in Shanghai is very wide,” Chen said, noting the number of patients seeking emergency room services had doubled to 1,600 per day. Four fifths of them had Covid-related complaints, Chen said.
The rapid surge of coronavirus infections has overwhelmed Chinese hospitals and funeral homes. Health experts have urged the country to allocate more medical resources to rural areas ahead of the Chinese New Year on January 22, when hundreds of millions of people will be travelling for family reunions.
China officially reported 9,308 new infections and one Covid death from yesterday, a tiny fraction of the true caseload. The government has defended its data by insisting it has abided by international norms and has been open about the outbreak in the country. It has narrowed the definition of Covid deaths to only those caused by respiratory failures directly linked to the coronavirus.
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Australia’s health minister was among those urging his Chinese counterparts to be more transparent. Travellers to Australia from China, Hong Kong and Macau are now required to provide a negative Covid-19 test within 48 hours of departure.
Mark Butler, the health minister, said “it would be valuable for information to be shared more comprehensively by China, not just with Australia, but with the rest of the world”.
The government in Beijing today urged the World Health Organisation to uphold a “scientific, objective and justice position” in the response to the pandemic.
Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said China “has always adhered to the principle of law compliance, timeliness, openness and transparency and kept close contact with the World Health Organisation to share relevant information and data in a timely manner”.
“The pandemic situation in China is under control,” Mao said. “The pandemic policy by every country should be scientific and proper. They should not engage in political manipulation, should not adopt discriminatory measures against China and should not affect normal personnel exchange and cooperation between countries.”
