EU officials ‘strongly’ urge testing for travel
Officials from the European Union (EU) are “strongly” urging that all of their members require Chinese arrivals to have negative Covid tests before they travel.
EU officials ‘strongly’ urge testing for travel. As a result of the “zero-Covid” policy being abandoned, travel into and out of China will be made easier starting on Sunday.
As a result of the current Covid outbreak, hospitals and crematoriums in China are reportedly overburdened.
Despite earlier recommendations that testing was “unjustified,” some EU countries have already instituted it.
The Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR), a body made up of representatives from the EU’s 27 governments, made the proposal on negative testing on Wednesday.
The recommendation comes after the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said that a “overwhelming” majority of member states supported limiting Chinese immigration.
Testing has already been implemented in France, Spain, and Italy, but other countries, like Germany, have been keeping an eye on the situation. Pre-flight testing is now required for arrivals from China in England, which is outside the EU.
While individual states are free to establish their own policies, it is unknown if an EU-wide strategy would be implemented despite the advice.
The IPCR’s recommendation represents a shift in strategy from the body’s disease prevention organisation, which last week cautioned against the implementation of required Covid testing.
Given the high vaccination rates in Europe and the fact that the variations circulating in China were already present in the European Union, the ECDC claimed that testing was “unjustified.”
Despite the rise in instances, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that there was no proof of new variations in China. Experts cautioned that this might be the result of a lack of testing and data.
A “too narrow” definition of a Covid death, according to the WHO, is one of the reasons why China is understating the full impact of Covid in the country.
Beijing has only confirmed 22 deaths since December, which conflicts with analyst data.
According to Airfinity, a UK-based provider of scientific data, there are 14,700 fatalities and more than two million new cases of Covid per day in China.
The Chinese government has threatened to retaliate after it was stated earlier this week that travel restrictions on Chinese arrivals are rooted in politics.
